Milo
by BeetZel
Summary: Ten years, ten years since the start of the outbreak called the Simian Flu had wiped out almost all of human life form. Milo a genetically modified Chimpanzee goes on a quest to find out about a long lost friend and perhaps something more.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes**

**Hello Everyone, this is my first time uploading a piece onto this site and I hope you all enjoy it. This story takes place right after the ending of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and I would appreciate some feedback if you all will. Depending on whether you guys enjoy this prologue or not I might or might not continue it but enjoy this little beginning nonetheless.**

Jennifer hauled herself to the side of her car, and tenderly touched her side where it was bleeding profusely. There was a thud next to her, and the woman turned slowly to face what had neared her. In front of her stood an ape - a chimpanzee, to be exact, with blood splattered along his fists, torso and face. In addition, his body was also covered from head to toe in various scars - the most prominent around his snout. The ape simply stared down at her with concerned-looking eyes. Jennifer merely just smiled at the chimp and reached out for his face.

Looking into his different-colored eyes (one gold, one green), she gave the chimpanzee a small smile as she wiped away at the blood from him with her sleeves.

"It's okay," she murmured softly.

...

Just a bit ago, both she and the chimpanzee were on the road driving towards their destination when her car had finally gave out and pulled to a slow stop. Jennifer knew that they were low on gas, but didn't think that her old vehicle would give out so fast on them when they were so close to their destination.

"Well, it seems like it's just walking from here on out. Sorry, Milo," Jennifer said softly to the chimpanzee seating in the back seat, who bared his fangs in a smile.

"You silly thing," Jennifer smiled back.

As she got out and stretched her sore limbs, the woman looked at the roadway towards their destination. Letting out a sigh, she was glad that they didn't have much further to go, maybe only just a few more miles or so, but they'd both reach San Francisco before sundown. Turning back to her car, Jennifer reached over to her backpack sitting on the passenger seat before closing the door. Setting the bag down onto the ground, Jennifer turned to look at Milo as he hopped up and down in the backseat of her car, waiting for the door to be opened.

"Okay, okay - you silly thing," Jennifer chuckled as she reached in and lifted the lock in the backseat.

Jennifer was about to open the door for Milo when two men popped out the side of the hill. A bit shocked at seeing other humans, Jennifer quickly turn back to Milo with concerned looking eyes.

"_Stay okay?_" Jennifer gestured quickly to Milo, turned back, and watched the two men approach her. She could make out some of their features now - one was an older man with a stubby beard, while the other seemed younger, with shoulder-length hair.

Jennifer was, to say, at least a bit shocked to see another human out and about. It had been so long since she'd seen another human being, and her face lit up at the sight of them.

"You there, having trouble?" the older man shouted in her direction.

"Yes!" Jennifer called back, and turned to look at Milo in the car, who had lowered himself within the vehicle, all the while taking a peek here and there.

"Wow, haven't seen another human in ages," the other man stated.

"Where are you headed off to?" the older asked.

"I'm going towards San Francisco, heard that there might be a human settlement there, but I'm not sure," Jennifer replied.

"Really? That's great - 'cause we're going there as well," the younger man replied, intrigued.

"Been traveling for a while now, Keith and I," the older man followed. "I'm sorry - where are my manners? the name is Richard."

"I'm Jennifer."

Just as Keith was going to ask another question, something caught his eye, and he peered into the vehicle behind Jennifer.

"Hey - who do you have there with ya?" he asked.

Jennifer's face lit up at the question, and slowly turned her head back towards her car, seeing Milo peeking out at them.

"My god! That's a monkey!" Richard bellowed.

What the two man saw was a big, burly-looking chimpanzee covered in scars, sitting in the back seat of Jennifer's car.

"He's okay, I promise! Please, let me explain," Jennifer pleaded, trying to calm down the quickly escalating situation.

Keith shouted at her. "Are you _fucking serious?_ It's because of t-th-that thing that _humans_ all over the place are dead. Didn't you hear the news? Docs call it the Simian Flu, and it's because of _that thing_ and its wretched kind that all of my family and friends _are dead!_ And you are driving around with it!?"

Milo started to hoot and shout within the car as the humans started to threaten his friend, but Jennifer turned back quickly, and shook her head. Holding her hand out towards Milo, she looked back around at both Kieth and Richard.

"Please, he doesn't mean any harm. He and his kind were not the cause of the flu - you've got it all wrong! Please, let me explain," Jennifer said slowly as she held her hands up, and made to stand between the men and Milo.

"No! Screw this shit, I'm killing that thing for what it did to my family! A dead monkey is the only good monkey!" The younger man stalked over and pulled out a handgun from the bag at his side.

"Keith, hold on," Richard warned, but his voice fell on deaf ears.

"No - wait please!" Jennifer cried as she reached out towards the younger man, and tried to pry the gun off of him. Both of them struggled, and before they knew, it a bang sounded off. Jennifer looked down to see her blue shirt, now suddenly turning red. Falling down onto her side, Jennifer quickly gasped for air as pain started to ripple throughout her body.

"Stupid bitch - look at what you made me do," Keith screamed as he began panicking.

"Keith, you dumb-ass," Richard exclaimed as he rushed towards Jennifer, and held onto her side, causing the woman to scream out in pain.

Suddenly, the door to Jennifer's car swung open, and out flew an angry chimpanzee who tackled down Keith and took a bite out at his throat, ripping it open. Before Richard could comprehend what had happened, Milo was suddenly upon him and started to beat him with his powerful fists.

As things had settled down, Milo finally stopped his assault, and panted as he stood over the still form of Richard. As if coming out of a daze, Milo's vision slowly focused, and noticed that his entire front and mouth were covered in blood. Touching his lips with his fingers and pulling back to see the red blood on them, the chimpanzee lowered his head and whimpered. When Milo saw Jennifer by the vehicle, he quickly scampered back to her. Looking at her wounded side, he started to panic but the woman gently held onto his face, and looked into his eyes. She then proceeded to clean him up as best as she could and then smiled at him with a painful grimace.

"I'm sorry... Milo.. You... Have-ugh-to... go now... Okay?" tears ran down the woman's brown eyes. Jennifer knew that the bullet had damaged an vital organ, and she did not have much time until she bled out. She was shocked at the sudden violent outburst Milo had, but understood that he couldn't control that raw anger, and was only protecting her. It saddened her greatly that he had to do such a thing for her.

...

"_Jennifer hurt because of humans. Hurt because of me. Milo find help?_" Milo signed frantically as a few tears dropped from his eyes.

Jennifer looked up at Milo from where she sat and gave him a sad smile, but shook her head slowly. Reaching over weakly for her bag, she gave it a few tugs before Milo helped her with it. Rummaging through the bag and it's contents, the woman pulled out some unnecessary items before handing the bag back to the chimpanzee and signed to him.

"_Remember why we are out here, silly? We are out here so you can find your friend. Isn't that what you wanted?_" her signing became slower and slower. "_Be strong for me - it will only be a little bit more before you reach there... I promise._"

"_Milo scared,_" Milo signed back to the woman as his lips trembled.

"I... Know sweetie, I know," Jennifer panted. She was so scared - not for herself, but for the chimpanzee in front of her. He was like a child to her - she had taken care of him when he was distraught, and became very close with her. After the virus outbreak, he was the only one left that she considered family. He had taught her many things, and she him.

Milo looked at his friend - his caretaker; understanding her words, he set the bag down and slowly reached around the woman, pulling her close to a hug, but stopped when she had let out a painful gasp.

"It's okay," Jennifer reassured him, and the chimp wrapped his arms around her once more.

"Milo stay... Until end..." Milo spoke out in a coarse, shaky voice as he held onto the woman and nuzzled into her neck.

Jennifer gave off a few sobs, and returned the hug as well as she could, grateful that Milo would stay with her till the very end.

"Thank you, Milo - my sweet, silly Milo..." She whispered as she held him a little tighter, and kissed the top of his head.

It was a long time before Jennifer's hand suddenly dropped from the chimpanzee's sides. Shocked at the motion, Milo pulled back and looked at the peaceful face of the woman who had taken care of him for nearly nineteen years. With shoulders shaking, Milo hugged the woman and let out a cry as he knew he was now alone. As his anguish subsided, Milo pulled back from his caretaker, and placed his forehead onto hers one last time.

" . Jennifer," Milo said softly as he leaned back away from the body, and turned towards the road.

Picking up the bag Milo slung it around him, like the humans did, and made off towards his destination. Turning back to look at Jennifer one last time, the ape stared at her lifeless form before huffing out a breath, and continued on towards the one place where his friend was suppose to be at - San Francisco.


	2. Chapter 1

It had been hours since Milo departed from his caretaker's side and out on his own. The world was so different since the humans had disappeared - not a trace or sound of them anywhere. Were they all truly gone, or were there some still in hiding? Milo pondered, deep in thought as he strode along the road and through some small empty towns. Sitting down on the grassy side, Milo reached into his backpack and pulled out a canteen of nuts and oats that Jennifer had prepared him with. Opening the lid, the chimpanzee picked up a few pieces of the grains and gingerly placed them into his mouth.

While munching on the morsels, Milo decided to pull out a yellow file from the bigger pocket of the backpack. Flipping through the folder, he looked down and noticed a small photo of a scarred looking chimp - the most prominent one going down the left side of its face. Stopping mid chew, Milo heaved out a breath through his nostrils. Images of two small apes playing with each other came to his mind, but then suddenly went sour as those images turned into a small ape with a muzzle forced around it's snout, and the other small one with a lit cigarette being pressed into its left eye while it had let out a horrible scream of pain. Snapping out of his daze, Milo frantically looked around and then back down at the file before quickly putting it back into the bag.

Looking about, Milo took notice of the dim sky and approaching rain clouds. Closing the lid on the canteen of grains, he set the item in the bag, and slung it over his back once more before hurrying along into the nearby woods. Entering the thicket, he was surprised to find that some of the trees had some makeshift stands on them, cleared of leaves and all. After strolling a long way into the woods, Milo decided to climb one of the trees to get a better idea of his location. Making his way to the top, the chimpanzee held onto a branch for balance while he peered out over the horizon. Just beyond the edge of the forest was the Golden Gate Bridge, now rusted, and full of empty vehicles. Letting out a breath from his nose, he decided to climb back down so that he could head towards the direction of the bridge.

While on the bridge making his way towards the city, Milo noticed that there were various clouds of smoke trailing upwards into the sky from within the city itself. Could it be? Were there still humans left? Milo began to move extra cautiously; who knew if the humans here were also going to be hostile towards him? Upon setting foot and knuckle within the roads, he marveled at the overgrowth that had consumed many of the houses and buildings. While moving through the middle of the rather large street, Milo noticed that the smoke was indeed coming from within the city. He momentarily stopped as he picked up a faint scent - _blood_.

With hair standing on end, he scrambled further into the city, heart pounding as the roads got more and more narrow with each step. The chimpanzee rounded one corner of a street into another one, and suddenly stopped dead in his track. His eyes widened were met with the sight of countless still bodies scattered about, both apes and humans alike. Slowly, he moved forward into the chaos, huffing out a gasp as he went on over to an ape, and touched the bullet wound that had made its home on the dead ape's chest. Shoulders rising with quick breaths, Milo turned towards a human's carcass nearby, and bared his fangs at it before turning back to look down at the late simian. Placing his hand over the ape's pale, dull eyes, he closed them, and gently patted at its chest, as if to bring some comfort to its already lifeless body. Milo glanced around, and noted that many of the bodies consisted of his ape brethren, but that paled in comparison to the human bodies that lay sprawled about. It consisted of men, women and even small children, their pale eyes staring up into the heavens or deep into distance from where they lay. _What could have caused this to happen?_ He was deeply confused. Looking back down at the young nameless ape at his feet, Milo rubbed its forehead with his thumb before hesitantly breaking the contact and moving on.

As he roamed deeper into the cityscape, the chimpanzee kept high alert and low profile, in case anything were to show up or happen. Luckily, nothing happened, as he came across more corpses and debris that laid waste to the area surrounding the streets. Suddenly, Milo could hear some sounds in the distance. With his head held high, Milo listened and could make out just the faintest of hoots and grunts - sounds that he could recognize. The chimpanzee hastily began making his way towards the source of the commotion. Reaching the top portion of the road, Milo paused, his gaze making out the scene from a distance - a mass form of furred bodies, moving about in union, while loudly hooting and whooping in excitement, oblivious that they were all being watched by a lone chimp. They all seem happy as they all hugged and groomed one another. He bared his fangs in a smile, but slowly let it pull down into a slight frown. Looking back in the direction from which he came, he could still the numerous bodies of humans and apes in the streets. Huffing a breath, he decided that the apes gathered there must have answers to the disarray in the city. Adjusting his backpack, Milo decided to make his way towards the giant horde that consisted of Bonobos, Chimpanzees, Orangutans and Gorillas alike.

One of the apes from the crowd bellowed out to Milo as the chimpanzee approached them. This ape who had cried out to him was also a chimpanzee, but was slightly larger than Milo, and had a gray fur coat instead. The large ape charged at him, but stopped just before him and stood its ground, staring him down with green-colored eyes; These chimps all had green eyes - just like his own left eye. He looked back at the gray chimp who bared his fangs at him, as if to keep him at bay. Nervously looking at the countless pairs of eyes that stared back at him, Milo noticed that a part of the mass was parting away. A hand patted the giant gray chimpanzee on the left shoulder, and a body emerged behind the gray chimp as it turned to look upon the owner. This new chimpanzee, although slightly smaller than the one with gray fur, appeared to hold himself with an air of leadership, and eyes filled with understanding. Milo observed it turn towards the gray one, and nodded once before moving towards him.

...

This new dawn was a day full of loss as Caesar was forced to make hard decisions the night prior. He had to fight and regain control of his brethren from Koba, his once-trusted friend and honorary brother. It had saddened him greatly that Koba had fallen into a point of insanity driven by fear, hate and hunger for power, turning him from a fellow ape to what the humans would call... a monster. Caesar was mostly part to blame as well, if only he had picked up the signs sooner, but alas, it had become too late. As a result, his ape brethren paid the price with their lives - Koba's as well.

Caesar looked over his apes, and noticed that many were happy to reunite with their loved ones. Many were also in grievance of their missing loved ones, and it pained him greatly - especially that of his closest friend, Rocket, and the loss of his son, Ash. The gray chimpanzee had isolated himself from the group and cried silently to himself, only allowing his mate to be close enough so that they both could mourn together. Caesar turned away from the two, and huffed angrily at himself once more, knowing that if he had done things differently, then Rocket would not be in so much pain.

While immersing in his shame, Caesar had remembered Malcolm's words of warning. After his battle with Koba, the human had appeared briefly to warn that he and his apes should leave, and that if they did not, then more bloodshed would undoubtedly break out between the two species. Caesar, however, had responded that war between both humans and apes had already started, and that there was nothing both of them could do. Malcolm had only stared into Caesar's eyes, and allowed himself to bid the ape farewell before disappearing into the shadows. While still in thought, Caesar noticed that Cornelia, his mate, was giving him a concerned look from his side.

"_You alright?_" she signed.

Closing his eyes, Caesar had let out a small breath before turning to look at his mate and nodded slowly. "_Thinking,_" he signed slowly, as to not make her worry too much for him.

Cornelia stared into Caesar's face, knowing when her mate was in deep thought, he was usually in distress, and he had lied to her many times before to make her not worry too, much but she knew better. He had told her of the events that had transpired: how he became injured, the lost of their honorary son Ash, Koba's betrayal, and Malcolm's warning. Caesar was suffering as much as his ape brethren, but she felt the need to support him, and so she pulled Caesar into a hug, in which he grunted in response.

"_It will be okay. You will find a way. You always do,_" she spoke softly as Caesar's arms tightened around her. Caesar had let out a shaky breath, and held onto his mate tighter, glad for her assurance.

"Thank. You," he responded in his rough voice.

Pulling back from Caesar, Cornelia turned and watched as Rocket stomped off into the crowd, leaving his mate behind. She sadly watched from the distance, and had let out a small sigh. She thought about her young honorary nephew, Ash, who had been close to their son, Blue-Eyes, that it pained her greatly to have learned of his fate, as he too was like a son to her. However, none took the pain more than that of Rocket, who genuinely displayed his sorrow in fits of anger and self-isolation.

Before they both could converse with each other more, Caesar and Cornelia heard Rocket bellowing in the distance. Both of them stared at each other briefly before Caesar started to make his way towards his friend.

"_Stay,_" Caesar ordered as he hurried towards Rocket, to which Cornelia merely nodded and went over to their youngest, quickly putting him into her arms.

Blue-Eyes, knowing that his father was still in no shape to move about, quickly followed the elder ape down the stone stairs, ignoring his mother's calls for him. As Caesar made his presence known, his fellow apes parted to make way for him. Reaching the edge of the giant group, he noticed that Rocket was staring down another ape that he had not seen before. Was this ape new? Making his way slowly towards the backside of his honorary brother, Caesar placed a hand onto Rocket's shoulder, and nodded to him once before letting his gaze wander back to this new chimp.

There was a sudden scuffle behind him. Caesar turned to find that his oldest son had followed him, and was staring intensely at the new ape and then back at him. Shaking his head slowly, Caesar held his hand out towards his son, indicating for him to stay in the spot, but huffed out slightly in annoyance when Blue-Eyes defiantly shook his head no, and signed that he need to be there in order to protect him. Knowing that when his son had put his mind on something, it was futile to argue with him, but he indicated for Blue-Eyes to stay by Rocket's side, in which the other agreed.

The first thing he noticed about this chimpanzee was that he had scars over his body, much like that of Koba, and a few of the apes that were saved from the labs. He also noticed that the chimpanzee was wearing a tan-colored backpack of some sort, and was covered in dried blood. That was probably why Rocket had stood his ground in front of the weary chimp, but the the other did not seem to pose a threat as he nervously looked about. Caesar also noted that perhaps the most interesting aspect of the chimp was his mismatched colored eyes - one green and the other brownish gold.

Carefully making his way towards the other chimp, Caesar stopped just a few feet away from him, body tense just in case the other chimpanzee was still semi-feral and not modified like they were. Blue Eyes made to come after him but Caesar turned back and shook his head from left to right telling his son that it was going to be alright. Turning back to look at the chimp Caesar decided to raise his hands up in front of him. He pointed towards the chimpanzee and then moved his hand in a circular motion in front of his torso area.

"_You sign?_"

Caesar waited and watched as the older chimp in front of him cautiously looked around at the surrounding apes, and then back at him. He was hoping that this chimpanzee was indeed intelligent like they were, and that he understood signing as well. The other simian seemed to have understood what Caesar was doing, as he slowly rose onto two legs and then placed his right fist up next to his face, and made a knocking motion.

"_Yes._"

Letting out a weary breath, Caesar lowered his shoulders, his body relaxed, knowing that this fellow new ape was indeed not of feral mind. Noticing that the stares was unnerving the new chimp, Caesar turned around and gave a commanding bellow. He watched as his apes dispersed, leaving them be, all except for Blue-Eyes, Rocket, Maurice, and Luca, the Eastern Gorilla. Looking at the four of them, Caesar watched as Maurice gave him a confused look before gesturing to the leader.

"_New ape?_" Maurice asked.

"_Yes,_" Caesar replied as he turned back to face the other chimpanzee.

Caesar pointed at the other chimp once more before he took both of his hands, and extended both the index finger along with the middle finger, tapping his right fingers over the left ones twice.

"_Your Name?_"

The other chimp seemed to have picked up the question, and quickly placed his right palm over his chest and also tapped his index finger and middle fingers together before he signed the letters M, I, L, and O. _Milo_.

Caesar rolled the name around his head before he repeated the hand gestures, but he spelled his own name, also vocalizing.

"Caesar," he stated in a gruff voice.

Milo only stared in bewilderment, as if not actually believing that Caesar had just spoken aloud, but slowly he placed a hand onto his chest once more.

"Milo," he responded in a deep voice as well.

Caesar's brows rose slightly at the chimp's speech, but smiled and extended his arm in a friendly manner, in which the chimpanzee named Milo accepted.

...

Milo had not expected another chimp, who went by the name of Caesar, to communicate with him in words and American sign language. However, that did not stop him from baring his fangs in a smile at the other chimp. When Caesar had reached out towards him, he gladly took his arm. While Caesar lead him back to his apes, he gestured to the others and their names. The giant bulky gray chimpanzee went by Rocket, who was a bit older than Caesar himself. The Bornean Orangutan's name was Maurice, with Luca following up in a bow when the latter was introduced. However, when both he and Caesar stopped in front of another chimp, Milo was surprised to see a young chimp adorned in four jagged scars over his right torso and across his cheek, staring back at him with intense blue eyes.

"_Blue-Eyes, my son,_" Caesar signed as he looked from Milo to his eldest.

In spite of the introduction, and when Milo had signed his name to the other, he was quite taken aback by Blue-Eyes swift huff of anger before stomping off. Confused, Milo turned towards the others quickly.

"_Did I do something wrong?_"

Caesar gave him a sympathetic look before going after his son, to which Maurice stepped up next to him.

"_Do no take offense, Blue Eyes has been... Overly expressive since... Recent events,_" Maurice finished.

"_What recent events?_" Milo signed, noticing that his question made the orangutan slump his shoulders a bit.

When the orangutan stared back at him, he started to explain about the recent battle between both humans and apes. Detailing that the humans came to them for help, and they provided aid in the hopes that they do not break out into unnecessary war. However, that did not go as planned, as one of their own, whom was overcome with fear and malice, decided to take action and thwart the peaceful treaty. He then went on to explain about how Caesar was shot, the battle between humans and apes, and finally, Caesar's duel with the one ape who he had trusted in so much.

"_Who was this ape?_" Milo signed slowly as he watched the orangutan's explanation.

Rocket gave Milo an intense look before simply spelling out the name in a bitter gesture.

"_Koba._"

The name stunned Milo. Images of two small apes playing together, one in a iron muzzle and the other with a blinded eye, laughing and hooting with each other. Then it switched to the two small apes being separated as both called out to each other. The memories faded, and Milo gestured to the left side of his face and drew a line down it.

"_Does he have scar and blind eye?_" Milo had signed, fearing the response that would receive.

"_Yes - but how did you know he has scar?_" Maurice signed quizzically.

"_Because... He was friend... Friend I have been looking for..._" Milo signed with shaky hands, eyes staring down at the ground.

...

After a while of searching, Caesar finally found his son sitting by the edge of the stone steps by himself. Slowly making his way towards Blue-Eyes, Caesar sat next to the young chimp, a worried expression plastered on his face.

"_You alright, son?_" Caesar signed slowly.

Blue-Eyes, however, violently shook his head from side to side as tears started to run down his cheeks.

"_What is the matter?_"

Huffing out a breath, Blue-Eyes slowly turned to face his father.

"_Looks like him,_" Blue-Eyes signed mournfully.

Caesar's face softened, understanding what Blue-Eyes was getting at. Milo, the new chimpanzee, must have reminded Blue-Eyes of his late honorary uncle, Koba, with his lab scars, and the past recent events probably rushed back to the young chimp's mind. Heaving out a sigh, Caesar reached out and rubbed his son's back in comfort.

"I am. Sorry. Did not mean. To be rude," Blue-Eyes spoke out softly as he allowed his father to comfort him.

"It. is. Okay," Caesar responded as he gazed up towards the skies and letting out a sigh of his own.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading this. I'm very happy to hear that you guys have enjoyed it so far and please bear with me as it'll take me some time to upload. Again please please PLEASE, write a review if you've enjoyed the story, it will help me a lot. Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, thanks for all the support and I'm am thrilled that you guys are enjoying my story. Also there are some references in this chapter and if you guys can guess them, you get a free internet cookie. Anyways please put review down, even if it's one word. Thanks again for reading my story and I'll upload as soon as possible, Thank You.**

* * *

"_Koba was your friend?_" Maurice signed questionably, while Milo had closed his eyes and heaved out a weary breath before nodding. Giving the ape a sympathetic look, Maurice nodded once. "_Koba was friend too, was just like brother as well._"

Rocket, however, growled and struck a piece of debris with his fist, causing it to fly a few feet away. "He! Is! No brother! Of Mine!" Rocket bellowed out as he turned back to face the others, panting, teeth bared, knuckles bloodied, and eyes wildly glaring at them.

"Rocket..." Maurice started to sooth his friend, but the gray chimpanzee merely bolted off, leaving the three apes to be. Sighing tiredly, Maurice turned towards Luca, gave him a nod, and bid Milo a farewell as he followed the angry chimpanzee.

"_Rocket going through hard time right now,_" Luca signed to Milo as they both watched Maurice take his leave. "_He just lost son, Ash, To Koba. Was killed when refuse to follow order of killing human,_" he finished.

Milo merely looked back to where both Rocket and Maurice had gone off, then turned back to look at Luca, who shrugged and shook his head sympathetically. Milo didn't understand - what had prompted Koba to do such a thing to a young chimp? The two then turned as they were joined by Caesar and Blue-Eyes.

"_Where is Maurice and Rocket?_" Caesar signed to Luca, to which the gorilla explained to him the events that had occurred. Caesar's shoulders drooped while watching the gorillas hand gestures. he knew this might happen - he should have talked to Rocket sooner.

"_Maurice went to go talk to him,_" Luca signed as he pointed in the direction where the two had gone before turning back to look down at Caesar. "_You going to talk to them?_"

Nodding once, Caesar turned towards Milo, and gave him a apologetic smile.

"_You are welcome to stay. If you have any questions, come find me,_" Caesar signed before rushing off in the direction Luca had shown.

"_Sorry for earlier..._" Blue-Eyes signed to Milo.

"_It is alright. I understand,_" Milo responded. "_I am sorry for your loss... Everyone's._"

Blue-Eyes only nodded in gratitude.

Not long after, Milo was introduced to the colony of apes by Luca and a hesitant Blue-Eyes. He was greeted by apes of all kinds, ranging from labs apes like himself, all the way to a new young generation filled with bright, happy, and curious faces. Milo was also introduced to the queen of the apes and Caesar's mate, Cornelia. She welcomed him with opened arms, happy that there was a new addition to the colony after they had lost so much. He couldn't help but smile at her - even when they had suffered so much, they were still so happy. She had asked if there were others with him with a hopeful face, but Milo explained that he was alone, and that during his travels he had seen no other apes, but also told her to not fret, and that there might still be others out there. This seemed to make the queen smile, and she nodded before going over to her son. It was until not much later did Caesar, Maurice and Rocket rejoin them. Rocket seemed a little calmer now since his talk with Caesar.

"Sorry. for shouting. Earlier," Rocket breathed out.

Turning to look at the gray chimpanzee, Milo gave him a small smile, which slowly turned into a sympathetic look before signing.

"_I am sorry for your loss. Luca told me what happened._"

Rocket stared at Milo momentarily before averting his gaze at the ground. "_Thank you for your concern,_" Rocket replied before making his way past Milo, and back towards Caesar. Milp decided to follow him over to Caesar. Upon approaching, Caesar had gathered a group of apes and was explaining their situation. The humans were coming for all of them. Although the other apes had informed him of the injured and the apes that needed rest, Caesar quickly cut him off, saying that they did not have time, and that they had to leave as soon as possible.

"_We cannot rest. I know we are all tired, but the humans are coming. We cannot stay here any longer. It is not safe. We will take a group and lead the females and the young back to the forest, where it is safe. The rest of us will stay behind and look for survivors. Maurice - you and Luca will lead any of the injured, the females, and the young back to the forest. Rocket and I will stay behind and look for survivors."_

"Father. You are. Still hurt." Blue-Eyes spoke afterwards, looking up at his father.

"_I am alright, my son,_" Caesar reassured him. "_You and Maurice go now. Rocket and I will follow after._" Blue-Eyes huffed out in annoyance, but obeyed. After the meeting was adjourned, Caesar watched as Maurice, Luca and his son began to rally and lead the injured, females, and young away.

"_You sure about this? You should have gone with them,_" Rocket signed as he

watched the group leave.

Caesar merely nodded in reply, and turned around to face the rest of the apes that had stayed behind to help. Milo was among the volunteers.

"We! Look for apes - who are lost! Help them. Bring them home!" Caesar bellowed, and the apes all scattered in all directions.

...

Cornelia was not expecting a new addition to the colony so soon, but was glad that this newcomer had found them. It gave her hope that perhaps there are others like them out there, and that maybe they would come too. While grooming her youngest child, Cornelia watched as Caesar had formed a meeting to discuss what to do next. Turning her gaze back, Cornelia had noticed that a few apes were approaching her, and she smiled at them. Greeting them one by one, Cornelia stared around her own group of ape mothers or soon mother-to-be.

Cornelia was deeply concerned with Rocket's mate, Ari, whom she found sitting by a few of the other mothers. Cornelia made her way towards the female chimpanzee with her young child, and sat next to her.

"_I am_ _sorry,_" Cornelia signed.

"_He was so young - now he is gone,_" Ari signed back sadly. "_I miss him so much._"

Cornelia reached out and pulled Ari into a gentle hug as they both mourned for Ash. Cornelia could not imagine the pain that Ari was going through, nor did she ever want to. She only hoped that both Ari and Rocket would be able to pull through from this ordeal, and if they needed help in doing so then, both she and Caesar would do whatever they could. After letting go, Cornelia watched as Ari left to go find her mate in the meeting, leaving her with the rest of the mothers. Soon enough though, Cornelia had spotted another new mother ape not far from her. Approaching the new mother, Cornelia gave her a smile.

"_Hello Zira,_" Cornelia signed.

"_Hello,_" the other ape signed back timidly as she cradled something in her arms - a newborn ape that was suckling from her teat. Zira approached the queen ape gently and settled down next to her. Slowly, the baby looked up and stared at both his mother and Cornelia with fierce gray eyes before turning to look at Cornelia's own young one.

"_He looks very strong, and has wonderful eyes. What is his name?_" Cornelia happily asked while managing to keep a hold on her own baby, who was now trying to reach out and grab onto the newborn. She remembered assisting Zira in labor just before they made their way towards the city. The female ape was tired after just giving birth, but Cornelia and the other mothers carried her so that she could show her mate their newborn.

"_His name is Rain - his father's favorite weather,_" Zira responded with a soft smile. However, that did not last long, as her smile morphed into a frown as she looked upon at her child. Cornelia could only smile sadly - she knew exactly who Zira's mate was, and it must had been very painful for the female bonobo. Cornelia knew Zira for a while now, and that she was very fond of another specific ape; one who was an exceptional hunter, warrior, and close friend of her Caesar - Koba. When they had reunited with everyone else in the city, Caesar informed them of Koba's treachery, which grieved Zira.

"I... am afraid," Zira softly spoke as she cradled her newborn son in her arms.

"_Why afraid?_"

"_For my son - what others will think?_" Zira signed worriedly as tears started to stream down her face.

"_Nothing will happen, I promise. You and your son are not to be blamed. We all did not know that this will happen,_" Cornelia tried to console the new mother.

Zira, however, merely just held onto her child and cried while Cornelia rubbed the back of her head in comfort. Suddenly, Caesar concluded his meeting and informed Cornelia of his plan. At first she did not agree, but finally gave in when he stated that he and the others will follow shortly after. As the group of apes moved back towards the forest, Cornelia turned back to look at her mate.

"Be safe," she uttered quietly before continuing to lead the apes back towards the forest along with Maurice, Luca and her sons.

...

Pushing away debris, Milo looked around at the devastated tower. The subway below had completely caved in. When Caesar had announced the rescue search, Milo bolted off into the tower to look for any remaining survivors. However, he had no luck so far and decided to go deeper into the tunnels underneath it. He soon came upon a wreckage that contained what looked like a giant metal lift of sorts that appeared to have closed in on itself. Walking up towards it, he noticed that there were some blood smears at the center part of the contraption. The chimpanzee curiously followed the smears, noticing some red spots on the ground that lead away from the broken lift.

It took Milo merely minutes but as he followed the blood trail quietly, a sudden, but distant fit of coughing caused him to jump and take cover behind a wall. He peeked around to see where it had come from. Hearing a faint growl, Milo stayed put and listened as the noises started to move away clumsily, knocking over things. Was it an ape, or was it a human? Milo wasn't sure, and so he decided to get a better look around the corner. Sunlight shone through a crack on the ceiling above showed it was an ape, panting heavily, cradling its heavily scarred left side, and it leaned onto the cement wall for support. Stepping into the open, Milo cautiously called out, causing the ape to snap it's head back at him.

Milo's breath hitched up a bit when he saw the face of the ape, now lit by the light. A fierce, green eye, along with a pale-looking one, glared back at him. A scar that ran along the left side of his face and down towards his snout was ever so familiar. Milo watched as the ape bared his fangs, not caring about the displayed threat - he did come to help after all. Instead, he moved closer towards the ape, who in turn took a defensive stance.

"Koba?" Milo spoke out, uncertain, as he entered the ray of light. He could not believe his eyes - from what the others had told him, he was sure of Koba's death when Caesar had dropped him from the tower. This brought him great relief; his long lost friend did not perish after all - but what would the others do if they found him alive? Maybe if he can persuade that what Koba did was wrong indeed, but for a good cause, perhaps Caesar might spare him his life. Koba, who was still baring his fangs at this new intruder, tilted his head slightly in confusion at the sound of Milo's voice.

"Who... Are you?" he grunted in a wheeze, not recognizing the ape that showed itself. As the ape approached, the features on its face jarred some long-lost memories. He started to remember the scars that were plastered onto the chimp's face, especially the one around the snout area. Faint images showed a young Koba feeding an older chimpanzee named Milo through a straw because he was unable to eat through the iron muzzle. The chimpanzee had gotten it put on after attacking the caretaker who was supposed to take care both of them. Instead, the caretaker had abused and mistreated both apes terribly. Huffing out every breath, Koba watched as Milo approached him and gave him a tearful smile.

"_I thought you died,_" Milo signed with shaky hands.

"How. Did you. Find me?" Koba asked, stunned that his long-lost childhood friend was standing before him. "How. Did you. Get here?"

Milo merely just shook his head. "_That is not important right now; right now you need help. I take you back to apes,_" Milo signed.

Koba merely let out a guttural chuckle as he leaned his head back and covered his eyes with his right hand.

"_I cannot go back,_" he quickly signed, grimacing at his left side again. "Not. after what. I have done," Koba spat as he looked down towards the side.

Before Milo could assure him that what he did was a misunderstanding, a loud thump landed behind the two. Turning around, Milo's eyes widened when he caught sight of Rocket. Rocket's surprised green eyes looked from Milo to Koba, letting out a menacing growl at the sight of the injured bonobo.

"KOBA!" he bellowed, and charged forward.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello my readers, I am so sorry for the late update and hopefully this chapter will please you all. I'm going to be a bit busy now so my updates will be a little slower this time but the story is not dead, that I promise. Anyways again, please post a review as they will help me a lot when writing and any kind of critiques will help out a lot, so thanks in advance, and enjoy chapter three.**

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Rocket was sorely mistaken to think that things were not going to get worse as he helped Caesar out with the search and rescue. After the fight at the top of the tower, the group had taken time to rest and mend wounds, both physical and mental. Thinking back, Rocket remembered how Blue-Eyes sadly informed him the demise of his son, Ash. Rocket grieved greatly at learning that his son was tossed to death by an ape who he had considered as a brother and friend. He was there when he watched Caesar let Koba fall to his death, but this infuriated him - Rocket should have been the one to end Koba so that his son would be avenged.

Huffing out a grunt, the gray chimpanzee flipped over a piece of dry wall, only to find nothing underneath it. Rocket could see no signs of any apes within this room he was in, and left. He recalled that their new addition to the clan, Milo, had made his way towards the tower. Grunting to himself, he should have known better - that was the area where most of the apes were gathered at, and was bound to have stragglers still within it. Rocket made his way out of the building, and rushed towards the remains of the human tower. Upon entering, he noticed that some of the others were already helping apes out from the wreckage. When Rocket had asked for Milo though, one of the apes merely pointed downwards, indicating that he had went to check the base of the tower. Thanking them, Rocket followed the direction so that he could find Milo and inform them that they were almost done. As he rounded the corner into a giant hallway, he was greeted with the most unexpected sight - Milo and... _Koba._

_..._

The three apes stood frozen, eyeing one another. Rocket's breath quickened, recognizing Koba's familiar face, standing just a mere few feet away from him. Gnashing his teeth, Rocket slammed his fist onto the ground, and let out a bellow.

"_Koba!_" Rocket snarled as he charged towards the injured Bonobo, bulldozing right through Milo. He Slammed hard into his target, knocking all of them down into the ground. Taking the initiative, Rocket quickly got on top of Koba and began an assault of heavy blows. Just as Rocket was going to go in for another swing, Koba somehow placed his feet onto Rocket's abdomen, and launched the furious chimpanzee off of him. He flew backwards, and collided with Milo, who in turn broke his fall. Releasing a furious growl, Rocket quickly pulled himself up and charged towards Koba once more, who only had a moment to recover himself from a coughing fit before he was slammed into again, and landed on the rough ground once more. Before Koba could retaliate, Rocket reached for Koba's neck, cutting off his air supply, and for good measure, pulled Koba's head up slightly before slamming it back down onto the ground, dazing the bonobo.

Rocket turned his head when Milo had approached him and grabbed onto his shoulder, pleading for him to let the other ape go. Rocket growled in reply, and shoved the other chimpanzee away with his shoulder, resuming his strangulation on the one who murdered his son. However, a set of fingers latched onto both of Rocket's shoulders and forcefully yanked him off of the bonobo. Although he landed with a loud thud, Rocket swiftly recovered and glared up at Milo, who now stood between both him and Koba.

"Stop!" Milo yelled as he stood in the center, eyeing both Rocket and Koba, who was starting to come around from the lack of oxygen. Rocket looked like he was ready to plow through him again to obtain vengeance. Milo knew that he was in mortal danger, but he was not willing to let another ape die, especially after seeing so much death already. Turning back to check on Koba, he was relieved when the bonobo had sat up coughing and wipe away at his bloodied nostrils.

"_Move!_" Rocket ordered, glaring at Milo.

"No - Apes. Should not. Do this," Milo replid, shaking his head. "Already lost. too many apes. Must stop. No more - Please."

"_Koba! Is not! Ape!_" Rocket roared as he stomped towards the bonobo, but stopped when Milo intervened again. Growling, he rose to his feet, and glared down at the other chimpanzee, who merely stared back with sympathetic eyes.

"No more. killing," Milo pleaded, hoping that his words would reach the furious gray chimpanzee.

"Rocket?" Caesar's voice echoed from the end of the hallway, making all the other apes turn their heads.

...

Caesar approached the scene, and was astounded at what he saw. Within the corridor stood Rocket, who was heaving loudly, his knuckles dripping with blood. Standing next to him was a weary-looking Milo, who appeared to be shielding something out of view behind him. Approaching closer, Caesar's eyes widened - it was Koba, standing there with his head held down, wiping away at his face.

"Koba?" Caesar's breath hitched up slightly at the sight of the injured Bonobo, who merely glared up at him with hate-filled eyes.

"_Move_," Rocket growled in a low voice, this time to which the other chimpanzee turned to Caesar for help.

Caesar stared into Milo's pleading eyes before looking away slightly, heaving out a sigh. What was he suppose to do in a situation like this?

"Enough!" Milo shouted, and began to sign. "_No more fighting, no more killing; Apes must stick together._"

"Apes together. Strong..." Caesar breathed as he stared at Koba, and remembered when Cornelia had shown him Zira and her newborn. Looking back at Milo's hopeful eyes, he turned towards Rocket, knowing his friend was going to hate him for the decision that he was about to make. "Rocket - let's go," he said, turning around before making his way back towards the surface.

...

Rocket was shocked at Caesar's words. Why - why would he simply just let Koba - the one who caused chaos among their ape brethren, the one who murdered his son, the one who almost killed him - live? Staring down at his bloody knuckles, the gray chimpanzee let out a frustrated growl, following Caesar.

"_What are you doing? Why let him live?_" Rocket signed angrily as he caught up with Caesar, who merely heaved out a tired breath.

"_No more fighting. If you kill him, it will only make you like him._" Caesar replied, now staring at him.

"_I do not care - What makes you think that your words will stop me?_"

"_Because..._ _Ash would not have wanted this._"

...

Caesar finished slowly before moving on, leaving a wide-eyed Rocket behind. He felt terrible for using his deceased honorary nephew to stop Rocket's rage, but if would make the gray chimpanzee stop, then Caesar would do, as painful it would be to bear or say.

...

Slumping down the side of a wall, Rocket slowly covered his face and quietly wept to himself. How could Caesar say that to him? Why did everything happen to him? Was what he wanted really going to turn him into another Koba? Then he thought of his son and remembered the young ape, bringing a slight, sad smile to his lips. Caesar was right - deep down, he knew that his son would not have wanted his father to go for revenge, but instead be happy, forgive and move on. Ash never took after his father, and was instead more like his mother: kind, selfless and forgiving. He never even thought of vengeance when the human had shot him not long ago. Instead, he was more worried about the apes and Caesar's decisions. Lifting his head up from his hands, Rocket stared at his bloody knuckles and huffed out mournfully.

...

Milo's shoulders drooped as the tension faded with Caesar's and Rocket's leave. Going over to Koba, Milo stretched out a hand and tried to help his friend, but instead was swatted away by the other ape.

"Don't. Touch me," Koba managed to wheezed out. He was indeed injured, but his pride was hurt much more. He suddenly felt a smack on his head, and shot his head up to see Milo glaring down at him.

"_Don't push me away; I am trying to help you. Come,_" Milo irritably signed, trying to get the other to follow, who decided to stay put. Milo heaved out a sigh, making a bee-line back to the other ape, and performing a combination of dragging and pushing a resisting Koba towards the surface. Along the way, the two saw Rocket slumped down by the wall, staring into his hands with fresh streaks of tears running down his face. Milo Stopped by the fellow ape and tried to offer a helping hand, but the gray chimpanzee gave an insulted look in response instead. Milo retracted his hand back, quickly ushering a glaring Koba to the entrance.

"_Don't do that; Go,_" Milo signed angrily while pushing Koba away. As soon as they were outside, Milo turned back, noticing that Rocket had followed slowly behind, with an appearance of being deep in thought; his eyes were blankly staring down at the ground.

...

Once Koba was out in the open, he was greeted with the many apes that had sided and gone against him in the battle with the humans. Hearing Caesar barking orders for them to move on, the bonobo couldn't help but glare at the leader ape, who was once his friend and ally. The bonobo cleaned himself up a bit, and was now noticing that Rocket was now eerily quiet. What Caesar had done to the gray chimpanzee was beyond him. He knew why Rocket was angry at him - he did after all kill the chimp's son. Closing his eyes tightly, feeling remorse as he remembered tossing the helpless, young ape over the ledge to his death. He was supposed to be an uncle, a friend, and a brother to his ape brethren, who now see him nothing more than a monster.

As they marched their way back towards the woods, Koba was quietly followed by Rocket and Milo, while Caesar lead the group at the front. Passing through into the deeper parts of the forest, they eventually came upon the spiky, wooden trench that lead into the colony. Koba noticed how Milo was marveling at the woodwork the apes had done to build their home, now slightly scorched by fire. Before Koba entered the ape home, however, he was stopped by both Rocket and Caesar.

"_You._ Stay. Here," Caesar announced to him with a cold stare.

Koba bared his fangs menacingly, but was stopped when Milo placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. He then noticed that Caesar had pulled some apes over, and conversed with them - all turned and glanced at Koba cautiously before moving on. Growling, Koba slumped down next to a tree, and crossed his arms in annoyance. To his left, he saw Rocket placed on watch duty, and was now staring at him with eyes filled with hatred, sadness, and pity. Unable to keep eye contact, Koba forcefully turned his attention elsewhere while he waited for what Caesar had in store for him.

...

Caesar entered into their home, and was greeted by both Maurice and Luca. He frowned upon the damage the fire had done to their peaceful village, but moved the thought at the back of his mind for later, and turned his attention back to the two apes before him.

"_How goes your search? I see you have brought back many others,_" Maurice signed with a smile.

"_That and more..._" Caesar huffily replied

"_More?_"Luca signed, curious.

"_Help me bring everyone to the center."_

The two apes needed no further direction, and were now hooting to call for a gathering. While he waited for Maurice and Luca to round up the apes into the courtyard, he was greeted by his family. Caesar smiled warmly as Cornelia made her way towards him with their youngest son in her arms, followed by Blue-Eyes. He was quickly hugged by his mate, and turned to look down at their youngest, rubbing the infant's head shortly before acknowledging his oldest.

Now that most of the colony had gathered, he turned away, stood on top of a rocky platform, and made his announcement - the traitorous Koba was still alive. Upon this revelation, several of the apes that were guarding the bonobo had brought the ape up towards the center on his knees before the colony, inciting angry cries from the colony as he was presented. Caesar held up his hand to silence them all, telling them that the ape should not be harmed, as there had already been too much death among their kind. Instead, Koba would be confined to where they could keep an eye on him at all times. At this, the apes began murmuring amongst themselves, and Caesar quickly silenced them once more before it escalated to deafening levels again. He reminded them that the humans are approaching, and that they needed to focus on preparing themselves for the events that were to come. As Caesar finished with his speech and dismissed them, he observed his apes dispersing to go about their business. He turned to look at Cornelia, bringing their foreheads together in a silent, hopeful thought that they would pull through when the humans came.

"_Zira will want to go see him,_" Cornelia signed when both she and Caesar had broken contact.

"_I do not know if that is a good idea,_" Caesar replied, finding the conversation's subject among the crowd.

"_She will go anyways._"

"_... I will take a group of apes and go with her then,_" Caesar hesitantly gave in as he turned to look back at his mate.

"_What will you do with Koba?_"

"_I ... I do not know._"

...

After Ceasar had finished his announcement, the ape guards had taken Koba and threw him into a small section of the colony consisting of a broken down hut, where they could keep a watchful eye on him. Growling at his guards, Koba looked around and exhaled defeatedly as he sat down with his back turned to the ape colony, letting his mind wander. As the day passed on, Koba heard approaching footsteps and noticed that Caesar had led a small band of apes towards him. Turning to face the ape leader, Koba watched as Caesar gave the guarding apes a slight nod before stepping aside to allow another ape slowly emerge from within the group. Koba instantly recognized the face - Zira. She rushed over towards him, and gave him hug while weeping into his shoulder. The other apes moved to stop her, but Caesar merely held his hand up to stop them from interacting with the female ape.

"I. Had thought. You died," Zira whispered while letting out whimpers of joy as she pulled Koba into a crushing hug. "_Are you hurt?_" she signed as she looked Koba over, noticing many of his new scars.

Koba could only let out a tired sigh, slowly returning the hug while his mate fussed over him. Turning to glare at Caesar and his troops again, he instead found that they had stepped away to give them privacy. Letting his eyes fall back to hers, Koba gave her a warm smile. He had considered himself very lucky when he met his mate, and remembered when the two had met each other. It had been nearly four years after they had escaped from the humans, and he was growing accustomed to socializing with other apes. He did not know what to do, however, when he was in the presence of the females, and instead often keep to himself and watch from afar how they acted around each other.

He had tried to interact with others, but it did not help as most, if not all, of the bonobos would avoid him due to his aggressive look. One day, however, while it was raining, Koba had return from hunting with a band of other apes. When they were done dividing the meat evenly, he watched as the others left with their mates and cuddled within their huts. He glared up at the rainy sky in hatred - it made him envy his fellow ape brothers, who had someone to go back to, while he was all alone. Standing in the middle of the rain, Koba heaved his share of meat over his shoulder and sauntered off towards his hut so that he could perhaps repair his broken spear, or make a new one for the next hunting trip.

On his way back though, he couldn't help but notice a small ruffle of laughter. Turning his head slightly, he noticed a small group of females to his right, laughing and signing to each other sporadically. He cocked his head in confusion, shook his head, and decided to move on... until he heard something approaching him. Koba turned around and was rather surprised at the sight - a female, who appeared to be slightly smaller than himself, had timidly stepped out into the rain and made her way towards him. She stopped just a few feet away, appearing to be either too embarrassed or afraid to come near him. She glanced back to her friends, who continued giggling and signing to her. Looking back at Koba, the slightly smaller female bonobo came closer, and slowly held out something from the palm of her hands; it was a small vine of berries. Dropping his broken spear, he reached out slowly and took it. Not knowing what else to do, he took the meat share from his shoulder, ripped a piece off, and offered it to the female ape, who gingerly took it. As they made eye contact, Koba couldn't help but feel slightly warm when the female had smiled at him, and before he knew it, she had turned around and ran back to her friends.

This series of events happened to him again over the next few days with the same female, but she would give him something different each time; seeds, strange shells, colored stones, pears, some odd trinkets the females had started making. Taking the thought into consideration, he eventually began to return the favor by giving the female more meat from his hunt, along with fruits and nuts that he had also found. As time went on, this process of exchange continued, and he would always look forward to returning from the hunt, just to see the female bonobo as he was walking back to his hut. It was sometime later that the female introduced herself to him.

"My name. is Zira," the female bonobo said quietly with a warm smile. Koba was slightly surprised that her voice was rather soft, not like the other apes that spoke. So in turn, he gave her his name as well.

"Koba," he grunted, causing the female to gasp at his rough voice, but quickly gave him a warm smile. The female's smile was so moving that he couldn't help but return it with a smile of his own.

Before long, the two started to constantly be at each others' side when he came back from his hunts. He would return his weapons and meat into his hut right before running off to meet the female bonobo by the watering hole, or with her group of females. They would often go off to a secluded area within the colony, or into the forest, and be enthralled with each others' company. Zira would often groom Koba in which he would grunt and awkwardly sit there; not being used to the grooming, as it reminded him of the prodding and touching while he was a lab ape. In the end though, he came to enjoy it, as her touch was soft and gentle, unlike those of the humans, who were rough and painful. While together, Zira had provided him something that he had thought he would never attain again - a sense of love and security.

"What. is your. favorite weather?" Zira had asked Koba.

"_The rain,_" Koba simply signed back.

"_Really? Why?_"

"bec_ause... that was how I met you,_" he replied with a grin on his face.

Koba felt something moving within his middle while still embracing his mate, forcing him out of his memories. He pulled back to look down at what was causing the slight discomfort, and his eyes widened when he saw a small baby within Zira's arms. Quickly, the confused ape looked back up to his mate, and then back down to the baby.

"Do you. want to. hold?" Zira offered.

"Who... ?" Koba's voice trailed off as he took the small infant, looking into Zira's eyes, and then back down again.

"His name. is Rain. Our son," Zira replied, rubbing the baby's temple.

"I. Have... A son?"

An exasperated Koba looked into the steel-gray eyes of the baby bonobo in his arms, who yawned while his little fingers touched his father's chest fur.

"Rain," Koba spoke as he brought up his child, and rubbed both of their foreheads together. "Rain... my son. I have. a son," he chuckled, closing his eyes as he pulled Zira into a hug.

...

Milo watched as Koba was reunited with who appeared to be his mate as she presented the bonobo with a small infant. He watched as Koba's face softened significantly and his lips curl into a smile at his mate, knowing that he had become a father. Milo couldn't help but let his lips turn upwards into a grin as well, and was happy for Koba and his family. Yet, he could not shake an odd feeling that hung heavily in the air. Looking around himself, he did not see anything that was out of the ordinary until he noticed Rocket blankly staring at Koba and his family. The gray chimpanzee looked odd sitting by himself away from Caesar's group just outside of Koba's area. What unnerved Milo, however, was how still Rocket was. If he had not paid attention, he was sure the other could have been mistaken for a statue of sorts. After what felt like hours, Rocket's green eyes slowly turned and locked onto his own before the gray chimpanzee slowly got up and moved away. Scratching his head, Milo couldn't shake this odd feeling that was in the air - was something going to happen? He couldn't pinpoint what it was, and worriedly glanced back at Koba and his family.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello my readers, I am so sorry for the late post and thank you all for taking the time to read my story. Anyways, I found something really funny. Caesar's second son is also named Milo and well incorporating him into this story was rather strange as this story is literally called Milo. Well I somehow worked him in and hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter. I will also post the next chapter very soon and please write a review if you enjoy it, Thanks all and enjoy.**

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Caesar gazed from his once large tree hut and down at his fellow apes. Most of them were all preparing for the oncoming war as they sharpened their spears and murmured quietly to one another uneasily. The pass couple of days were rather uneventful, many of the apes were still weary from the previous battle and it saddened Caesar to make them prepare themselves for war. Feeling a small tug at his legs, Caesar's eyes descended down onto his youngest son, Milo. It was a rather funny thing actually, when both Caesar and Cornelia had named their son they hadn't expect another ape with the same name to pop up nearly a week later after their youngest was just born. It was rather baffling if not intriguing that the new ape was also Koba's old childhood friend as well. At the thought of Koba, Caesar frowned slightly. What was he going to do with the ape that had almost killed him? He couldn't lock Koba up forever within the colony and Caesar knew that Koba still had some apes who are willing to follow him, thus making his presence here dangerous as well. What was he to do? He was sure banishment was no better and with Koba's leave, he would surely take a lot of their fellow ape brothers with him and Caesar needed them all now more than ever so that was out of the question. Feeling another tug at his leg, bringing him out of his thoughts, Caesar reached down and picked up his youngest. "_What would you do my son?_" Caesar signed while little Milo watched his father and merely smiled up at him in return.

"_He won't be doing much signing for a few more months,_" Cornelia signed to her mate as she entered into their run down home. Stopping in front of Caesar, Cornelia frowned slightly at the distress look no her mate's face "d_oing alright?_" Cornelia asked as she reached out towards Milo and lifted their child from Caesar's arms.

"_Just, thinking,_" Caesar signed back while gazing down at his apes once more before turning to face his mate again. "_How are the injured?_"

"_They are doing much better thanks to Maurice's guidance,_" Cornelia replied while she cradled little Milo and started to groom him. "_Is there no other way for us to prevent war?_" she signed while looking up at Caesar hopefully.

"_No,_" Caesar breathed out gravely.

"_We can go somewhere else, maybe find other apes?_" Cornelia pleaded, hoping that her words would change his mind at least.

"_We can't. Humans will hunt us down. We have to stay here and protect ourselves,_" Caesar stated with a thick grumble making Cornelia turn away from him, a frown plastered onto her face. He knew that his mate had only good intentions and as much as he wanted to leave he knew that the humans will not stop and would most likely hunt them all down, so for now they have to prepare themselves. "Sorry," Caesar spoke out with a tired sigh as he reached up and cupped Cornelia's chin with a finger. The two brought their heads together for a moment before Caesar broke the contact and looked around them frantically.

"_What is wrong?_" Cornelia signed to her mate.

"_Where is Blue-Eyes?_" Caesar asked.

"_By the watering hole,_" Cornelia signed unhappily back. "_He's not talking much, won't eat when I ask him to, and has been very distant ever since Koba had returned. What do we do? I fear for him,_" Cornelia finished with a whimper causing little Milo to gaze up worriedly at his mother.

Closing his eyes, Caesar heaved out a tired sigh. Ever since he had spared Koba and brought him back, Blue-Eyes had indeed distanced himself with the family. He didn't understand what it was but on that day when Blue-Eyes had seen Koba, Caesar had seen a flicker of something within those sky colored eyes of his son's. Something that was oddly familiar, primal and dangerous. "_I will try to speak to him,_" Caesar reassured his mate as he hugged her and then rubbed the top of little Milo's head, earning a chirp of laughter from his youngest son.

...

The pass couple of days were rather hard for Koba as he sat by his spot and watched the apes finally finished building a solid cage around him. He didn't like this one bit, this was no better than those wretched humans locking him up and doing their experiments on him, cutting him open so that they can perform their so called tests. Heaving out a heavy sigh, Koba leaned back into a tree stump and pondered on Caesar's words.

"_If I feel or have any assumptions that you will hurt our apes again I will not hesitate to kill you,_" Caesar warned when he had came to visit Koba.

Koba scoffed at Caesar's petty threats, mildly surprised that their so called king was finally showing some backbone. From his cage Koba could see the many apes that walked by, some who revered him and many others who hated him. Scratching at his chin he pondered if he could get some of his followers to help set him free from this prison of his but then thought against it, he had to control himself. He couldn't be like his old self anymore and had to change for the better if not for himself but for his mate and child. Hearing a small hoot, Koba's head perked up and turned slowly to face the opening gates of his cage, lips turning upwards into a smile as Zira appeared.

"_You being good today?_" Zira signed, stopping just in front of her mate, making him lower his head slightly before looking away.

"Yes" he grumbled, letting his eyes roam around his cage with a frown plastered on his face.

Zira smiled warmly at Koba and reached up, putting a finger under his chin "good," she whispered. Even though her mate had hated the condition he was put in, Zira was relieved that Caesar had shown even a small amount of compassion for her Koba and allowed him to live among them, even if he were to be caged at all times. Zira however frowned slightly when Koba had momentarily averted his gaze away from her, huffing out a angry breath.

During his return, Zira had questioned him, asked him why he had done the things he did. Koba's reply was simple, to protect apes and kill all humans. In her heart she was deeply saddened by his answer and had asked if he had wanted to protect the apes then why had he killed the ones who didn't follow him. With that he did not have an answer for and instead turn his head away from her in shame.

Zira had reached up again and directed his attention back towards her with a finger. "_Koba, something wrong?_" she had asked.

"I fear for you and Rain," he replied. "_Caesar said that humans are coming... I want you to take Rain and leave before that happens._"

"But g_o where? There is no where to go,_" Zira signed back with a confused face.

"_Go far away so human can't touch you and our son,_" Koba signed.

"_I can't leave_ _here. Apes are strong together, alone we die, you know this,_" Zira argued back.

"You'll die. If you stay!" Koba warned with a deep growl, fur standing on end. Upon hearing his child letting out a small gasp, Koba quickly calm himself by closing his eyes tightly and relaxing his tense body. "_I don't want to see you or our son hurt. I don't know what I will do if I lose_ _the both of you,_" Koba signed hesitantly.

"_And I you,_" Zira replied softly "_it will be okay._" Within her arms Zira felt Rain moving and reached his small hands out towards his father. Rubbing her cheek against her baby's once she handed the small ball of fur to her mate in which Koba happily accepted. The scarred bonobo playfully lifted his child up into the air and then brought the baby back down towards his chest so that he may blow raspberries into the baby's stomach, causing him to gurgle in laughter. Zira smiled as she watched both of her boys play with each other.

One of the ape guards hooted out, signaling that her time with Koba was up. Turning reluctantly around Zira couldn't bear to part ways from her Koba but she had to. Reaching out towards her mate she gave him one strong hug. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.

"And I. Love. You," Koba replied back just as softly while he reluctantly handed Rain back to his mate. Zira had placed her hand up to the side of his face and held it there while he leaned into it with eyes closed. The two stood there for a moment before Zira relinquished her hold on him and slowly walked away. "Be safe" he thought to himself, as Zira made her way out of his cage and disappear into the colony.

...

While walking away from Koba's prison, Zira had accidentally bumped into another ape, apologizing quickly before looking up to see who she had walked into. Letting out a gasp, Zira found a gray burly chimpanzee standing in front of her, dark green eyes glaring down at both of her and her child. "Rocket," she breathed hesitantly while the gray chimpanzee merely frowned in return.

"Zira," Rocket answered back in a low voice as he kept his glare on the female bonobo and her baby, keeping the giant logs he was carrying over his right shoulder steady.

"_I'm sorry, did not mean to walk into you,_" Zira signed apologetically, receiving a grunt from the giant chimpanzee. While she was apologizing to Rocket she had noticed that the chimpanzee was eyeing her child making her unconsciously tighten her hold on Rain. Rocket seemed to have noticed the slight shift and his dark green eyes shot up to hers. As the seconds drew one, Zira reluctantly broke eye contact and lowered her head in submission while walking around the giant chimp. "I have to go," she spoke softly while she walked walked around Rocket, hoping that he wasn't going to suddenly attack her. Instead he stood there like a giant pillar, turning his head to watch her go. Zira glanced back at Rocket who was now making his way in the other direction. Letting out a breath that she didn't even know that she was holding, Zira relaxed tremendously and hid behind a hut, pondering on what had just occurred. Looking down at Rain, Zira smiled at the smiling baby bonobo and tickled him before moving on.

...

Blue-Eyes grunted angrily as he stared at the water's surface, shifting on the spot from where he sat. Why did his father allow Koba to come back into the village? Did he not know that it was because of Koba that things were like this? If it were him he would've let the ape die out there for what he did to them. Growling the young chimp shook his head and gnashed his teeth together. Blue-Eyes couldn't explain it, after seeing Koba was indeed still alive a slumbering anger had slowly developed within the young chimp over the last couple of day and it was eating away at his very being. Letting off a low growl Blue-Eye's fur slowly rose while his fists balled up tightly and eyes slowly glazed over. The sound of a twig breaking however had snapped the young chimpanzee out of this state and quickly turned his head into the opposite direction, knowing exactly who was coming to meet him. "I don't. Want to. Talk right now. Father," he grumbled.

"What. If not. Father?" a voice grumbled softly, surprising the younger chimp.

Turning his head around, Blue-Eyes was met with the the face that belonged to a certain orangutan who smiled and waved at him. The young chimpanzee grunted in greeting before turning his head away and glared off into the distance making Maurice frown. Making his way on over to the young prince, Maurice settled himself right next to Blue-Eyes. The older orangutan could see that the young prince was still very much troubled due to the fur that was standing on the young chimpanzee and tense like posture.

"_It's about Koba, isn't it?_" Maurice signed when Blue-Eyes had glanced back at him. The young ape however scoffed and turned away from him once more, grumbling all the while doing so. Letting out a deep breath Maurice had let his eyes wander up towards the heavens knowing that something like this might occur. Many of the apes were already uneasy when they had brought Koba back into the colony and Blue-Eyes was most likely taking it the hardest to cope with. He understood it well though, taking note on how both Milo and Zira had asked Caesar to spare Koba's life. Of course Caesar being the compassionate ape that he is, allowed Koba to live but with the condition that he was to be locked up and put under extreme supervision at all times. Koba however disagreed to these terms but Milo had spoken out in his stead and promised that Koba would not trouble them while Zira had calmed the bonobo down. So hesitantly, Caesar had agreed, frowning at himself if he had made a good decision or not.

"Why? Why does he. Get to live?" Blue-Eyes whispered, jarring the older orangutan from his thoughts. "_It's not fair, he gets to live while many others died. He caused this war and now we're all paying for it. Why did father allow him back into the colony? He should rot for what he did._" Blue-Eyes finished angrily.

Maurice stared solemnly at Blue-Eyes and slowly reached out to rub the young chimp on the back while Blue-Eyes buried his head into his arms. He felt awful for the young prince. Blue-Eyes was still much too young to have seen the horrors of war and to lose a close friend within it as well. Looking up from his charge Maurice had noticed that Caesar had approached them, only to stop a few feet away and observe with concerned eyes. Nodding to one another, Maurice got up from his spot and patted Blue-Eyes gently on the back. "Stay. Strong," he breathed quietly while leaving the young chimpanzee's side.

"_He doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk is he?_" Caesar signed as Maurice approached.

"_He_'_s taking everything that has happened to him quite hard. He has just lived through a battle and has lost loved ones, affecting him deeply,_" Maurice signed to Caesar. "_best not to talk to him right now, he going to need time to sort things out,_" Maurice advised his old friend.

"_But what if he needs me?_" Caesar replied which caused Maurice to frown at him.

"_You must learn to give others time and space to think, especially your son,_" Maurice stated.

Caesar grunted and glared at the ground by his feet. He didn't like to sit by and watch his son suffer by himself but knew that Maurice was right about him. He did not need to baby his son all the time and let Blue-Eyes come to him when he was ready. Sighing, Caesar gazed back up at his old friend and nodded.

"_You don't look like you are doing so well yourself my old friend,_" Maurice inquired while observing Caesar, noticing the slight frizzled look of the chimpanzee's unkempt fur and slightly drooping eyes.

"_I'm fine,_" Caesar responded while eyeing his son who had quietly disappeared from his sight. Heaving out a sigh with shoulders drooped, Caesar reached a hand up to hold his head in frustration.

Maurice furrowed his brows at Caesar, knowing well that the chimpanzee was doing his best to care for both his family as well as the well being of the apes within the colony. He knew Caesar devoted his time to round up able working apes to help rebuild their homes as well as devised a daily scouting party to check the forest perimeter. While both he and Cornelia had instructed many of the females to help the wounded. Rocket had taken the time to helped around with rebuilding the colony huts so that it will help take his minds off of things. Which left Luca who was in charge with fortifying the walls of their home.

"_I don't know if I should wait for Blue-Eyes to come talk to me later,_" Caesar signed as he made to move pass his old friend but was stopped as the bigger ape had placed a hand on his shoulder.

"_He will come to you when he feels the time is ready,_" Maurice reassured the chimpanzee. Caesar gave the older ape a defiant look but shrunk away slightly while Maurice raised a curious brow ridge at Caesar's many rare perks. Heaving out a puff, Caesar glanced back at Maurice before giving into the older ape's words. Giving his friend a warm smile Maurice gently turned Caesar around and lead him away from the watering hole. "_We can take care of Blue-Eyes later when he is ready but right now, just let him be,_" Maurice reassured his king. Hoping that Blue-Eyes would be ready soon to talk to his father and not let his emotions build up, lest it destroys him.

...

While aimlessly making his way through the colony, Blue-Eyes could not stand being cooped up within it's protective walls. The chatter from the apes were disrupting his thoughts and he needed a quiet place so that he may think in peace. Glaring off to the side, Blue-Eyes noticed that some of the apes were standing around at the gate entrance, fixing the burnt walls. Maybe if he could get out of the colony for just a little bit to clear his mind and be back they won't notice his sudden disappearance. Quickly looking around and seeing that none of the apes were too busy to pay any attention to him, Blue-Eyes quickly scampered off towards the gates. Upon reaching them he kept his head low while walking along with many of the others who were all busy carrying various logs of different sizes back and forth from the forest. Catching sight of Luca, who was barking orders, Blue-Eyes had quickened his pace and soon enough he was out of sight. He knew that his father would not have approve of him going out of the colony by himself but he needed to sort out his problems and only by being alone could he do that. Glancing back once at the colony, Blue-Eyes heaved out a sigh before he started to make his way deeper into the forest.

Before long Blue-Eyes had reached a small flowing river and stood by it's edge. His face soften significantly while he closed his eyes, allowing the sounds of the running stream, chirps from birds and sounds of falling leaves within the area soothe his troubled mind. That moment did not last long however as Blue-Eyes slowly opened his eyes, memories playing within his mind once more. This calming river stream was both his and Ash's favorite spot. Out here the two could fish and get away from their parents, joke with each other and not give a care in the world. Out here they just had each other but now here he was, standing all alone by the riverbed with no one to laugh nor joke with.

Heaving out a sigh, Blue-Eyes stared into the river and glared at his reflection. Growling the young chimp smashed the water's surface, angry at his father, at his uncles, at Koba and mostly, at himself. How could he have been so weak during the fight with the humans. Why did he not listen to his father? What did he see in Koba that made him follow the older ape? Why didn't he save his best friend, Ash. Why was he so weak and easily manipulated? As the water's surface calmed down the chimp on the water's surface reflected Blue-Eyes' panting form as a few tears fell from his face and into the cool water below.

...

Milo heaved to himself as he sat down by a tree stump to give his body a rest. The pass couple of days were rather tough for the older chimpanzee but he did not mind it. He was glad to have helped out the others in any way he can even if the others had been weary of him since he was Koba's friend. He didn't care though, he was just glad that Caesar had allowed Koba to live and had even allow him to stay within the colony even if the latter did not quite agree to the terms. So in thanks Milo had helped the other apes in rebuilding the colony and had even helped many of the injured. Today he had spent most of the morning rebuilding many of the huts and had taken just a little bit of time to rest.

Getting up to make his way to the watering hole, Milo had noticed Blue-Eyes sauntering away. Curious, Milo had taken a quick gulp and followed the young prince. He knew that Blue-Eyes was not on good terms with Koba being back but he had also noted on how the young ape was rather distant from many of the others and this in particular worried Milo as apes were generally social creatures and do not do well alone. While following Blue-Eyes, Milo noticed that the young ape was heading towards the gates. With the other apes so busy with their work they hadn't even notice that the prince had walked right by them and out into the woods. Hesitating, Milo stopped at the gates and pondered if he should notify Caesar about Blue-Eyes leaving. Taking a glance back at the young prince he could barely make out the form swinging through the vines. Grunting, Milo decided to go after Blue-Eyes instead, knowing that the others were all still very busy and he did not want the young prince to be berated by Caesar.

Trailing after a much younger ape was a task in itself for Milo, while he swung through the trees. He had lost sight of Blue-Eyes several times but with a stroke of luck he had found the young prince's trail once more. Soon thereafter Milo came to the edge of the forest and watched as Blue-Eyes quietly approached the river stream. He noticed the young chimp striking the water's surface angrily and frowned to himself. Why was Blue-Eyes out here all alone? Did he not know that it was dangerous out here? Especially with the humans coming to probably kill them. Milo however frowned while he watched Blue-Eyes shivering form stare at the water's surface. Heaving a sigh, Milo could not imagine what the young ape was going through but he maybe could fix it. At that thought though, Milo had noticed that the surrounding area had gone deathly quiet. Fur standing on end the older chimp had let his eye scan the treetops from where he sat and then down at the forest floor. There he noticed several of the leaves were moving. Moving? Leaves don't move by themselves but upon closer inspection Milo could make out several humans who were wearing green colored clothes to blend in within their environment. Upon noticing that one of the humans had raised his gun and taken aim at Blue-Eyes backside, Milo quickly stood up from his perch.

"Blue-Eyes!" he bellowed, causing both the humans as well as the young chimp to jump and turn upwards towards his direction in surprise. "Run!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello readers, this chapter will be a little shorter than my usual posts but eh, it's going along right? Anyways there's a character reference in here and if any of you can figure it out then you get a cookie. Anyways please post a review, as it will help me a lot and please feel free to inform me what you guys will like to see happen too and I might just incorporate it into the story. Again I would like to thank all the readers who have put the effort to review my story as it give me motivation to keep on going. Thanks again.**

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All Blue-Eyes heard was his name and the word "run" shouted, causing him to turn around quickly in surprise. Upon turning, Blue-Eyes sighted the humans who were looking around frantically in the trees before they turned their attention back to him. Within a split second, Blue-Eyes made a dive towards one of the large fallen trees by the bank of the river as bullets whizzed on by him. Covering his ears and shutting his eyes tightly, Blue-Eyes balled up behind the fallen log, letting out a cry as the sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the air before everything went silent again. Cracking an eye open, Blue-Eyes momentarily peeked on over the fallen tree to see that the humans were distracted with something within the trees. Taking that as a que to make his getaway, Blue-Eye lunged off of the tree and ran towards the other side of the trees, far away from those humans.

Just as Blue-Eyes reached the thicket and started to climb up into the trees to get away, a single fire was shot and he felt hot searing pain lacing up and down on his right side. Letting out a howl of pain, Blue-Eyes lost his grip and fell downwards towards the forest. He let out a painful grunts as he landed on the ground and started to tumble down the steep slope, the world spinning about him and before he knew it, Blue-Eyes had struck his head on something hard and his world turned black.

...

Milo couldn't believe it, he had given away his position when he had called out to Blue-Eyes and warn the young chimpanzee. Looking down at the forest floor his eyes widened when the humans looked straight up at him and then aimed their weapons. At that moment Milo jumped out of his spot as bullets painted the branch that he was just on. Taking a glance towards the river, he noticed one of the fallen trees was being riddled with bullets, relieving him that Blue-Eyes had taken cover. However when Milo had landed on a branch he saw the young chimpanzee make a run for it at the opposite end of the thicket. No, he thought to himself while he saw Blue-Eyes out in the open, why did the young chimp run out into the open like that? While dodging the endless bullets Milo's fur stood on end when he heard Blue-Eyes let out a painful cry, signaling that he had been shot while escaping into the forest.

Quickly swinging from tree to tree, Milo needed to get to Blue-Eyes but now the rest of the humans had all their attention on him. He couldn't take on any of them at the moment, knowing clearly well that he was outmatched and outgunned when it came to firepower. As he grabbed onto another branch a bullet had managed to grazed his left forearm, causing him to cry out in pain and loose his grip. Plummeting towards the forest floor, Milo landed with a thunderous crash, dazed as the air had been knocked right out of him. Gathering himself quickly, Milo got up groggily and hid behind a tree,cradling his injured arm. Luckily it was just a graze and nothing too threatening, looking around Milo spotted an underbrush that was covered with some thick tree vines, providing the perfect cover for him. Glancing at his surroundings quickly he made a dashed for it and leaped into the protective hole as the humans fired their weapons once more. Letting out small heaves, Milo eye's shot out towards the opening of his little haven as the humans frantically called out to each other. As he waited for the inevitable, Milo's head perked up when he heard screaming. The cries were coming from the humans and then their voices were accompanied by other cries as well - ape cries. Before he knew it all was still and silent as if the sounds before didn't even exist. Cautiously, Milo peeked out the underbrush to see what had happened.

While scanning the treetops a slightly younger chimpanzee had landed in front of Milo and retrieved a spear that was sticking out of the body of a human. The chimpanzee unconsciously wiped the blood away on his spear with some leaves before he noticed Milo staring up at him. Putting his weapon down the chimp made his way on over to where Milo was hiding. "_You okay?_" the chimpanzee signed while Milo slowly nodded to answer while crawling out of the underbrush. The fellow chimpanzee noticed Milo's wounded arm and quickly bent down to assess the wound. The chimp called out with a hoot and a few other apes fell from the treetops, landing just a few feet away from them. "_Why are you out here alone? Don't you know it's dangerous?"_ the chimpanzee asked.

"_Followed young prince, then was attacked by humans,_" Milo answered causing the ape in front of him who quickly inhaled while the others murmured worriedly to each other.

"_Where is Blue-Eyes now?_" the chimpanzee demanded, concern etching on his face.

"_Ran that way, was shot,_" Milo pointed making the lead chimp nod once and then give some orders to the apes behind him. Three of the apes nodded and quickly climbed up the tree, swinging through the treetops towards the direction that Milo had pointed before the lead chimp helped him up. "_How did you find us?_" Milo asked.

"_We are one of the scout teams that Caesar had set out in case humans came into the forest. My group was nearby when we heard the human gunshots,_" the chimpanzee explained as he frowned and looked behind him where the human bodies lay.

"_Thank you, if it were not for you and your team, I would have died probably, my name is Milo,_" Milo thanked the fellow ape.

The chimpanzee turned his gaze back towards Milo, his troubled face slowly turning into a kind smile "_you are welcome. Always happy to help fellow ape. My name is Andy,_" he finished before turning to look at another ape. "_Take Milo back to the colony and inform Caesar what happened here. I will go with the others to retrieve Blue-Eyes,_" and with that Andy bolted upwards towards the treetops and followed his fellow apes.

...

It's been a little over an hour and Caesar relaxed his tense body while sitting by the steps that leads up towards his home. He was still peeved that Maurice had talked him out of trying to speak with his son but found that the older orangutan was right. He really did needed to rest and sitting here by the steps with an empty mind was unwinding his tense muscles. While sitting there, Ceasar bolted upright quickly when he felt a sudden pang within his chest. Grunting, Caesar reached up and placed a hand over his chest while he held onto the tree for support. What was this feeling? In the throes of his thoughts an ape had stopped right in front of him.

"Caesar!" the ape announced causing the older ape to frown slightly. "Humans! Coming!" the bonobo warned making Caesar's eyes widened in horror.

"Humans. Where?" he asked taking the bonobo by the shoulders.

The ape reeled his head towards southwest and pointed a single finger towards the human city. "Saw more humans. They are coming" the ape spoke quietly before turning back to Caesar as if to wait for instructions of what to do.

Caesar's golden green eyes narrowed momentarily as he observed the human city from afar before looking back down at the bonobo. Caesar heaved out a sigh as the bonobo's scouting team had finally caught up, all of them panting, nearly out of breath from the restless swinging they had to do. "_Rest for now,_" Caesar signed to all of them as he eyed the human city. Having a bad feeling about this Caesar left the small group so that he could round up the rest of the ape colony as fast as he could.

...

Zira was in her hut when the apes had called them all out for a gathering. Picking up her child, Zira followed the others into the center of the colony and watched worriedly when Caesar stepped up to the rocky platform. There their king announced that the human had arrived and that the females, young, elderly and injured were to travel deeper into the forest where they will all be safe. Of course there was a break out of panic cries but Caesar merely held his hand up to silence all of them. Giving the order, Caesar turned towards Maurice and Cornelia, nodding at both to lead the apes deeper into the forest. Zira watched Cornelia and Caesar placed their heads together once before she broke away from the contact and walked to the front of the giant group of apes, ready to lead them into the forest. Zira paused momentarily and turned her head towards the direction where Koba's cage was before her vision was interrupted by the figure of a giant orangutan. "_I know what you are thinking but you have to go,_" Maurice signed at Zira.

Zira hesitated but nodded once at Maurice before she turned around and followed the apes who were all lead by Cornelia.

Watching Zira follow the group of apes, Maurice let his gaze wander up towards Caesar and frown slightly. Caesar stared solemnly back down at him and nodded once, signaling for him to go, in which Maurice returned the gesture before he too followed the apes deeper into the forest.

...

When Milo and the other ape had made it back to the colony both of them noticed the large group of females heading off into one direction. Taking a glance at each other both Milo and the other ape scout quickly bolted into the colony to find Caesar. As soon as the two reached the center they found Caesar rounding up able apes.

"_What's going on?_" Milo asked as he walked up to Caesar.

"_Humans are here,_" Caesar stated simply before giving both Milo and the other chimpanzee a questionable look. "_Something wrong?_" Caesar asked. He then waited as both Milo and the other chimp signed to him about their encounter with the humans by the river. During the explanation Caesar's eyes had widened significantly when Milo gestured that Blue-Eyes was shot. Heaving out worriedly, Caesar looked away from the two apes and clung onto the stone wall for support. "It can't be," Caesar whispered as his vision started to go blurry. It can't be, his son was shot and he wasn't there to protect him.

"_Don't worry, son is strong,_" Milo tried to uplift Caesar's spirits but only got a mournful look in return. Backing away from Caesar, Milo sat down at one of the stone platforms and sighed to himself. What were they to do?

...

Blue-Eyes opened his eyes, his vision was filled the blazing sights of flames lighting up the dark sky. How did he get here? The last thing he could remember was rolling down a hill and then all was dark. Blue-Eyes flinched when screams of both apes and humans along with gunfire surrounded him, prompting him to run, to get away from those horrible noises. "Father? Mother? Uncle Rocket? Uncle Maurice?" he yelled as he searched frantically through the city streets while flames erupted all around him. Blue-Eyes quickly turn around when bullets flew by him and ricochet off of the vehicles and walls behind him. Seeing an ape figure in the distance, Blue-Eyes quickly sprinted on over towards it, hoping that it knew what was going on. Upon reaching the ape however the scarred face of Koba came into view making Blue-Eyes stop in his tracks with a gasp. Suddenly the scarred ape lunged out and grabbed Blue-Eyes by the neck.

"Why. So. Afraid. Blue-Eyes?" Koba sneered as the ground beneath Blue-Eyes started to crumble underneath him.

Blue-Eyes gasped and held onto Koba's outstretched arm for dear life while he danged over the dark abyss. "No. Don't!" Blue-Eyes pleaded to which Koba only frowned in return at the pathetic squirming. Suddenly, Koba had let go and Blue-Eyes started to plummet towards the darkness, letting out a fearful cry in the process. However a strong arm suddenly took a hold of Blue-Eyes flailing one, stopping his fall. Cracking a single eye open, Blue-Eyes gazed down at the darkness before looking up to see who had save him. Yet all he could see was a fur covered arm holding onto him and he couldn't make out the ape's face as a blinding light was illuminated behind it, obscuring its face. As Blue-Eyes was pulled up onto the ledge he fell onto the ground, relieved that he wasn't falling. Remembering that he was saved by a fellow ape, Blue-Eyes stared up at the ape who had saved him.

"Who. Are. You?" Blue-Eyes asked meekly, standing up slowly while the faceless ape's shoulders rose up and down, letting out a merry chuckle.

"_Couldn't believe you almost fell back there. See if it were me I would've been lightning fast and grabbed onto the ledge,_" the ape signed happily, confusing the sky-eyed chimp.

Blue-Eyes tilted his head slightly as he recognized those movements and crept a little closer towards the other ape, "_Ash?_" he signed in shock.

The other ape stood up and turned away from Blue-Eyes as if to gaze at the bright light behind him. Turning back to look at Blue-Eyes were the familiar bright green eyes that belonged to a certain chimpanzee who had dark ashy fur. "_Time for you to wake up,_" the ape signed as the light behind him suddenly illuminated powerfully, blinding the sky -eyed chimpanzee.

"Wait!" Blue-Eyes called out as he ran towards Ash.

"Wake up," Ash's voice echoed.

...

The first thing Blue-Eyes noticed when he had come to, was pain, pain that radiated all over his body and head. However along with that he felt a presence something soft and warm holding onto him. Slowly Blue-Eyes opened his eyelids and the first thing he saw were green colored eyes looking back down at him, laced with concern. Blue-Eyes blinked twice before he registered what the figure in front of him was.

"_Blue-Eyes?_" Andy signed worriedly while his prince merely blink back up at him slowly as if just coming out of a daze. The chimpanzee had been so scared when he had found Blue-Eyes. The spot that the young chimpanzee had lay on was covered in red and Andy thought that he and his group had been too late but was greatly relieved when Blue-Eyes had responded to their frantic cries. Andy let out a relieved breath and smiled down at the prince, he was very strong, just like their king - Caesar, but he needed swift medical attention and all he and the others could do was momentarily stop the bleeding on the young prince. Another frantic hoot caught Andy's attention and the scout leader turn to one of his apes to see what he was shouting about. There just a few feet away from them stood some humans with guns within their hands. "No," Andy said softly as his fur stood on end, eyes widening at the sight. Quickly his three apes stood in front of him with their spears at the ready but they were outmatched, the element of surprise not with them this time. However things had turn out differently for everyone when one of the humans called out to the others to put away their guns. Andy and his apes curiously watched as one of the humans stood up and walked towards them, stopping just a few feet away when the apes raised their spears.

"We're not here to fight," the man said softly aloud, causing the apes to look at each other before turning their fierce gaze back at him. "We're here to help," the man finished as he eyed Blue-eyes who stared back at him with glazed eyes. "Ellie, Caesar's son is hurt!" the man called out, glancing back at his group before he eyed the other apes again, who were all giving him a look of surprise.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello my readers, here is chapter 6 for you all and if you guys don't now who Andy is, this is him( planetoftheapes()wikia()com/wiki/Andy {replace "()" with a period}). I've also read the data bases and had thought the gorilla that was in Caesar's council was named Stone. However I've found out that his name was Luca instead and will go back into my older chapters to fix them up later. Anyways please write a review if you enjoyed the story and I'll post chapter 7 as soon as I can. Thank You.**

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Andy watched as the another human behind the first walked up to them. Judging by it's stature and physical form he could tell it was female due to the slight mounds on her chest. The woman stopped a few feet away from them when the apes all tensed up when she had approached.

"It's okay," Blue-Eyes' voiced weakly causing Andy and his apes to look down at their prince. "_Friends,_" Blue-Eyes signed before letting his arm fall onto the ground with a soft thud, slowly slipping into unconsciousness once more.

The apes hooted frantically when Blue-Eyes had closed his eyelids once more and that's when Ellie sprung into action by quickly going over to them and kneeling right down besides Blue-Eyes and Andy. "Let me help," she said softly while putting her giant bag down, the apes glared at her but made no move to stop her, much too worried about Blue-Eyes. Quickly she laid Blue-Eyes flat on his back and turn to look back at Malcolm and the others "Armand, come here!" she called out frantically. The man dressed in a worn down purple coat quickly bounded over towards her and skidded to a kneel right next to them. "Hey, remember me sweetie, it's Ellie," she spoke in a hushed voice to which the sky-eyed chimp blinked at her confusingly before nodding to her once.

"What's his status?" Armand asked as he too put down his backpack and started to fish out medical equipment.

"Gunshot wound from the back. We need to clean the wound first if we are to operate on him," Ellie stated quickly as Armand brought out a sheet of cloth and laid it on the ground besides Blue-Eyes.

"Any damaged vitals? And how are we suppose to hold him down?" Armand asked.

Ellie looked at the man's face before she turned her gaze to Andy and his three ape scouts, "they can help and I don't know if his vitals are damaged" Ellie breathed. Quickly Ellie turned back to the apes, "I know all of you still don't trust us but I need your help if we are to help save him," Ellie told the apes, hoping that they understood her. The one holding onto Blue-Eyes looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded at her while the others merely murmured behind him.

"Quiet! We. Help. Humans. Humans help. Blue-Eyes" Andy growled, causing the apes behind him to stay still. "How. Help?" Andy asked as he glanced back up at Ellie before casting his gaze back down at the young ape in his arms.

The apes were then instructed to lay Blue-Eyes down on his left side while both Ellie and Armand quickly observed the young prince's wounds. "I need you and your men... Apes, to hold his arms and legs down okay? So that he doesn't move," Ellie asked the apes in which Andy quickly signed to the other three, explaining to them what they needed to do. The four apes moved about quickly and took a firm hold onto both of Blue-Eyes legs and arms before waiting on the humans. Armand handed Ellie the half empty bottle of alcohol and she quickly unscrewed the lid, poured the liquid onto both of Armand and her hands before adding them to two separate cloths. "No matter what happens, hold him tight okay? These will give him a lot of pain but it will help cure him of infection" she explained quickly in which the apes gave her confusing looks. "Sweetie, this is going to hurt a lot okay? But bear with me, please" Ellie said softly to Blue-Eyes in which he merely gave her a single long blink in recognition. Before Andy and his scouts could ask her a question though, Ellie placed the soaked cloths onto Blue-Eyes' wounds making the ape let out a deathly scream, surprising all of them. At first Blue-Eyes had almost broke out of the apes' hold but they quickly reinforced their grip and held down their prince while he writhed and wailed in pain, tears streaming down his face.

"He's. Hurting!" Andy panicked as he accusingly glared up at Ellie with wide eyes, struggling to keep his hold on the young prince who thrashed underneath him.

"I know, please, just hold him," Ellie begged as both she and Armand also moved in to help hold down the jerking ape. Before long Blue-Eyes all but went still, passing out and Ellie made eye contact with Armand before they both worked diligently, Ellie pulling out the threads and needles, pouring some of the alcohol onto them while Armand pulled out the linen wraps. Before the two could do anything though they were both jumped on by the apes with the tips of wooden spears, inches away from their faces.

"No more hurting!" Andy spat in a shaky voice as he hesitantly glanced back at Blue-Eyes' still form while the rest of the humans surrounded them and pleaded.

"This is the only way we can help heal him," Ellie said softly as she stared up at Andy's snarling face, a single tear falling from her eyes. The ape above her bared his fangs down at her but glanced back at Blue-Eyes as if deciding if the humans were truly helping them or not. Grunting in frustration and not knowing what to do the ape hesitantly got off of her, casting his eyes downwards.

"Let. Him. Go..." Andy said softly. When the apes held their ground Andy angrily turned his attention at them "Let him go!" he roared causing the apes to cower back away from Armand. Andy observed while both of the humans quickly scampered over towards Blue-Eyes and worked on him, speaking quietly with one another as they prodded at the wound and began to stitch it up. When someone had spoken out behind him, Andy quickly glared back at the man.

"I know how you feel but you have to trust us, we are really trying to help him," the man said softly in which the ape nearly narrowed his eyes back at him. "We are on your side."

"Malcolm can you get us more of the linen?" Ellie called out in a shaky breath.

"Yeah," Malcolm responded quietly as he turned around to face his son Alexander.

"Dad is he going to be okay?" Alexander asked fearfully, eyeing Blue-Eyes.

"I hope so Alex. I hope so," Malcolm responded tiredly.

...

Far off in the forest a group of apes slowly made their way through the dense thicket all huddled together and moving as quietly as possible. Cornelia was at the lead and she hesitantly glanced to and fro. She was deathly worried about her son, Blue-Eyes and her mate, Caesar but she had a duty to lead the apes to their safe spot within the forest. Looking at her giant group of apes she could see that the outer members consisted of several of Caesar's able warriors consisting of chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. They stuck as close to the group as they could with spears in hand, ready to defend them at all costs.

"_Come we must not slow down,_" Cornelia signed to her weary apes while leading them on. If it were her Caesar she knew that he wouldn't allow them to rest due to his fear of them being caught out in the open and so she urged them on.

"_You fear for them don't you?_" Maurice signed as he walked alongside his queen.

Cornelia stared up at the orange furred ape before nodding slowly, getting at where he was going at. "_I fear for them both everyday,_" she signed back while unconsciously rubbing her youngest son to which Maurice gave his queen a solemn look. "_There's something I need to tell you,_" Cornelia signed hesitantly. "_Back there at the colony there was a moment, where I... I felt like I lost something. Something that is very dear to me."_

"_And what do you think that is?_" Maurice asked as he lifted away at a log.

Before Cornelia could answer him though a single gunshot was fired causing a random ape within their traveling group to abruptly fall flat onto the ground. Suddenly a pool of dark red blood began flowing out from under it and this prompted the rest of the apes to panic. Cornelia watched on with horrified eyes as their protective group was suddenly scattered, apes of all types running off wildly into the forest. The ape guards tried their best to keep the apes together but the effort was futile as the frightened apes merely pushed pass them. The ape guards then decided to break into action instead and quickly ran off into the direction of danger to deal with the enemies but with them busy there was no one to protect them.

"Run away!" Maurice grunted quickly as he turned to his queen. "Run, don't turn back!"

"But..."

"Run!" Maurice shouted, causing Cornelia to turn around quickly and run off with her child.

"I'm sorry Caesar, I failed" she thought to herself as she ran through the forest while more gunshots were fired off behind her.

...

Zira watched Cornelia lead the apes to their safe haven, she did her best to try and ignore the many stares and grunts that were shot her way but sometimes it was just too much. Holding Rain tighter to her chest, Zira wondered if she was even safe here among with her own kind. Of course most of the apes knew about her and Koba but that still did not mean that she was spared from what her mate did. Rain had let out a gurgle and Zira peered down at her child, smiling warmly at him. "It. Will be. Okay. Soon," she whispered to her child, causing him to coo softly in return. All of a sudden though the apes ducked their heads when a gunshot was fired and quickly looked about themselves that was until they all saw a fellow ape, dead within their ranks.

A hell broke loose and Zira was quickly shoved as the apes scrambled to get away from the immediate danger. Falling back roughly onto the ground, she quickly got up and too made a haste retreat into the woods with Rain in her arms. Everything to her was a chaotic blur as adrenaline pumped into her system, the cries, the shouting and the horrible gunfire that followed. After a long while, Zira finally started to slow down, stopping at a branch to catch her breath. Looking around frantically she made sure the area was safe before sitting down and checking on Rain. Upon seeing the small baby's frightened face Zira let out a sigh of relief as she clung to her baby.

Gunfire, the sound that struck fear into all living things, big and small, erupted into the air. Pain, the physical discomfort that lets one know that they were suffering, spiked suddenly at Zira's side. Letting out a quiet gasp, her eyes wandered down her side, noticing blood quickly pouring out of her. She quickly reached down to touch at her side and then bring it back up, eyes widening at the red liquid staining her fingers.

...

Rain curiously looked up at his mother when they were safe. He clung to her tightly and smiled when she had stopped running and peered down at him, letting out a small gurgle of laughter. Then there was that sound again, that sound that made his mother cling to him tightly and making him bury his face into her. After a moment Rain brought his head back up to look at his mother, he then noticed his mother staring down at her fingers now coated in something red. Cautiously Rain reached out to touch his mother's fingers but stopped and let his silver colored eyes roam up to his mother's green ones. Before he knew it he felt a sudden shift and both he and his mother started to plummet towards the ground. Letting out a shrill cry, Rain clung tightly to his mother.

...

At the sound of her crying baby, Zira snapped back from the momentary shock, noticing that she was falling head first towards the forest floor. Unconsciously she had quickly twisted her body in midair, making it so that Rain's little frail body was on top of hers. Letting out a choked scream, Zira cried painfully as her backside made contact with the rough forest floor. Wheezing, Zira checked her baby and was quite relieved to see him as he let out small cries and clung onto her tightly. Gasping for breath, Zira looked to her left and noticed several humans walking towards her.

"Well well well, look what we got here," the human's voice gloated as he approached Zira's wounded form. "Looks like we got ourselves a mommy and baby, isn't that sweet," the human mused.

Zira tried to get up quickly with Rain in her arms but then she was suddenly shot in the leg, making her cry out in pain and lose her grip on Rain while falling to the ground. Turning quickly Zira's eye widened as the human approached her and looked her over before he eyed her baby who was frantically crying. The man sneered down at her before he walked on over and picked Rain up off of the ground.

"You'll make a good pet," the man stated as he held up a crying baby Rain and smiled as he noticed the ape's odd eye coloration. The man suddenly felt a strong grip around his ankle and noticed that the mother ape had somehow crawled on over to him and used her left hand to hold him down. Seeing the ape's pitiful teary eyes he quickly spat at the ape and kicked at it's face, causing it to cry out in pain and letting go. "Sh, quiet now little guy, Breck and the boys will take good care of you" Breck mused as he walked away with Rain in his arms, followed by his men.

"What about the ape sir?" one of the man spoke out.

"Leave it. Its going to die anyways," Breck called back as he toyed with the frightened baby bonobo "yes, you'll make a wonderful pet won't you?" he finished with a chuckle.

After recovering from the kick to her face, Zira watched as the humans walked away with her child. She tried to scream out but her lungs did not work due to one of them being damaged. She was so helpless and now her baby was being taken away from her. Reaching a hand out Zira let out a guttural cry as she watched Rain peered out from behind the human's shoulder and reached his little hands out for her. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Zira noticed that everything started to fade into black, the light slowly centering on her child as he grew smaller and smaller while the humans walked further away from her. "Koba... Rain..." Zira uttered quietly as she finally placed her head onto the ground and closed her eyes for the last time.

...

"You sent them. To. Die!" Koba shouted from behind his cage as he slammed against it while Caesar merely stood at the other side. Caesar had just told him of what had happened and said that he had sent the females, injured, and elderly into the forest. What infuriated Koba the most though was Caesar's incompetence about the nature of the humans. That was where they will most likely be waiting and Caesar didn't understand that. Even if he had sent some guards along with the group, they were powerless when it came to the humans using their guns.

Caesar however held his ground while Koba yelled at him, infuriated by his decision to send the apes who couldn't fight into the woods. However he did what he thought was best, if they had stayed here they would have been closed in within the colony and the humans would just pick them off one by one. Closing his eyes and waiting for Koba's temper to die down, Caesar heaved out a weary breath as he met Koba's glare with his own. "_Koba, will you help or not,_" Caesar signed once more as Koba paced at he entrance of his cage. Finally Koba stopped and glared up at Caesar before sticking his hand out towards him.

"Koba. Help." Koba growled at Caesar, "but. Not. For. Caesar. Koba help. Only. Because. Of. Family," he snarled.

Caesar understood this and slowly closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath. Everything inside him told him that this was a bad idea but he really needed Koba's cooperation right now as the time is indeed dire. Opening his eyes once more to meet Koba's, Caesar slowly reached out and stroked Koba's palm. "We fight humans. Together," Caesar stated simply.

The anger slowly ebbing away from within, Koba merely nodded back at Caesar. "Together," he repeated as the other apes unlocked his cage. At the same time the sound of an explosion erupted at the gates of the colony, prompting both Koba, Caesar and the other apes to glance off at the direction. "We go now," Koba stated to which Caesar nodded in agreement.


	8. Chapter 7

After Koba's release, Milo ran up to the scarred ape and looked him over once before he turned to Caesar. The king ape nodded back to him once before they all turned their heads again when they heard the explosion once more. Caesar gave out a grunt and all the apes quickly scattered to their spots.

"Koba. With. Me," Caesar said aloud without even giving the ape a glance.

Koba grounded his teeth together as he glared at Caesar but a hand patted him on his shoulder, making him turn to see his friend Milo staring back at him. The scarred chimpanzee furrowed his brows and slowly shook his head from side to side, telling him that he should not let his anger get the best of him. Heaving out a breath, Koba stepped up to Caesar's side, "Koba. Follow," he answered as he waited for Caesar's directions. Caesar gave him a seconds glance before he lead the way to the gates of the colony.

Approaching the colony gates, Caesar quickly walked up to Luca and patted the gorilla's shoulder. "_Status?_" Caesar signed.

"_Humans to the left and right. All have guns,_" Luca responded. "_Don't look like they are very coordinated though, very noisy._" Luca joked, gaining a slight frown from Caesar. The two apes however ducked when a bullet whizzed on by them and buried itself into the wooden logs behind them. "They. Are. Here," Luca rumbled.

"Stay," Caesar ordered as he turned back to his apes and nodded to them signaling them to move out. Standing up Caesar made his way towards the entrance of the colony and held a hand up when some of his fellow apes tried to follow him. When he had reached the gates Caesar stepped behind a giant wooden log, "Humans! Leave! Apes! Don't! Want to! Fight!" he called. Instead of a response he received a riddle of bullets that painted themselves along the giant log. Sighing, Caesar closed his eyes. He never wanted to kill but the humans were leaving him with no choice. Looking up at the colony walls, Caesar spotted Milo and Rocket among the other apes and nodded at them, giving them the signal to attack.

...

Malcolm and the others turned their heads when they heard the cries within the distance. Bringing Alexander close to him, Malcolm couldn't help but frown inwardly to himself. He was too late, Breck probably lead the people from the city to Caesar's colony already. He had begged Breck and his army to not chase down the apes, however his words fell on deaf and angry ears. Malcolm watched as the apes grew restless and signed to each other quickly. The one that held onto Blue-Eyes seemed to be the leader and he quickly shook his head before he signed to the other three apes. Malcolm was suddenly taken aback as the ape turned to glare up at him and stood up with spear at his side.

"Humans. Heal. Blue-Eyes. How long?" Andy demanded.

"We don't know how long it will take but it will be some time before he is fully healed. He's very weak right now," Ellie responded to which the apes only gave her blank stares. Sighing and turning around to face them she tried to speak as slowly as she could so they could understand her. "Blue-Eyes. Needs. Rest. Will take. Time," she explained. She watched the apes glance at one another before Andy suddenly let out a grunt and sat back down. It seemed like they were not willing to leave Blue-Eyes behind to join the fight that was occurring within the distance and to be honest, Ellie was quite relieved about it. Who knows how much help they need from each other right now.

Before long though the group heard some noises from within the forest and quickly the apes formed a protective circle around Blue-Eye's unconscious form while Malcolm and the others readied their weapons. Landing just a few feet away from them was a rather large orangutan who was looking back at the way he had came before stopped in his tracks when he noticed them.

"_Maurice?_" Andy signed as he quickly went up to the older ape and looked him over.

"Hey I remember you," Alexander said aloud softly with a smile on his face, catching the attention of the orangutan.

"_Humans here?_" Maurice signed to Andy to which the chimpanzee glance back and nodded.

"_They help Blue-Eyes. They stopped the bleeding and now he is resting,_" Andy finished.

Maurice peered over Andy's shoulder and noticed Blue-Eye's unconscious form. Slowly he made his way over towards the young prince, looking at the humans as he did so, stopping before the wounded chimp and placed a hand on Blue-Eyes' brow. "Hurt. Bad?" Maurice asked when he noticed the bandages and turned to look up at Ellie.

"Yes but he will be fine. He's very strong, just like his father," Ellie reassured and noticed the orangutan gave what looked like a smile as he peered back down at the sleeping chimpanzee.

"Cant. Stay. Humans. Coming," Maurice warned quietly as he turned to look at the humans.

"We know" Malcolm replied, "we need to move to a safe place but we can't carry him" he finished.

"Apes carry," Maurice assured as he turned to Andy and signed, informing the chimp and his scouts on what to do.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Malcolm said softly as he turned to look at his group of humans and apes. "There's a cabin but it's pretty far from here. We'll need to take Blue-Eyes there if he is to rest properly and not be detected," Malcolm informed them, getting nods from all of them. "All right, lets go before they get here" he ushered.

...

"No, no, no please!" the man begged before he was riddled with the bullets from his own gun.

Koba now stood over the man's prone form and hissed slightly as he wiped at the new scar that was over his left eye. However that didn't stop him from smiling down at the corpse that he now stood on top on. At first the humans had the advantage as the apes were centered within the colony but the moment the apes had brought the fighting outside of the colony it was all over for them. While the humans had greater firepower they were powerless when it came moving within the forest. Turning here and there they would run smack into a tree and that was when the apes would retaliate by hailing them with spears or in some cases take their own weapons to use against them. Koba lead the apes who preferred to use the humans' weapons so that the opposition can be eliminated once and for all, Caesar however decided to go on the path with less bloodshed with disarming and stunning the humans instead. The battle had been long but the humans were slowly losing and falling back towards the city from whence they came. Koba would yell as he fired his gun at the human's backside but was abruptly stopped by Caesar as the chimpanzee took a hold of his gun and tossed it away.

"No more!" Caesar ordered causing Koba to glare up at him. Koba's glare did not last long though as Rocket, Milo and Luca came up to him.

"_What do we do now then?_" Koba signed as the rest of the apes started to gather around them both.

Caesar looked around at his tired apes but one thing stuck to his mind and probably theirs too. "_We go find the others, see if they are safe,_" Caesar signed quickly to which many of the apes quickly agreed.

...

Milo panted wearily as he followed the apes deeper into the forest. After the fight they needed to go check on the female apes to see if they were indeed safe and Milo hoped that they were. However after about close to seventeen minutes of just marching the group was astonished to find the body of an elder chimp within their path. An ape had quickly ran up to the body and looked back at the group with horrified eyes. Milo turned to look at Caesar to which he quickly joined the other ape and turned back to them. Quickly both he, Rocket and Koba ran up to Caesar and looked down at the ape's still body before glancing back at their leader. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"_We go and find our family,_" Caesar signed back with a hardened expression on his face. "We go! Find family!" he bellowed and all the apes rushed into the forest to see if they could find any apes that are lost.

Milo watched as both Caesar, Koba, Rocket and Luca shot off into the woods, the three more mobile ones swinging through the tree branches while Luca and the gorillas plowed through underneath. Having a bad feeling about all of this, Milo too followed suit and hoped that everything was going to be alright for his new friends and their families. However that was not to be so while he moved through the treetops. He could hear the wails and cries from many of the ape warriors as they found their loved ones or family members. With an aching heart he moved on to follow Caesar and the others. There was a rather loud hoot that had caught his attention and quickly rearing to his left, Milo followed the call. Upon sighting Rocket, Milo was confused as the burly gray chimpanzee was standing there as if he were searching for someone. "_Found something?_" Milo signed as he approached. Rocket turned to look at him but had what looked like a sad expression on his face. The gray chimpanzee shook his head slowly from side to side before turning to look down at his feet. Upon reaching Rocket, Milo peered down and his eyes widened at the sight of what he saw. Laying there in the now red stained ground was Zira, her eyes closed with dried tears that ran down her cheeks. "No..." he breathed. There was a sudden ruffle of sounds and another ape appeared right beside him. Hoping it not to be him, Milo turned his gaze slightly and found a wide eyed Koba standing next to him, jaw agape and shoulders slumped. Caesar and Luca arrived next and they too had shocked expressions on their faces.

...

Koba quickly knelt down and turned his mate over, noticing the bruise on her cheek and the bullet wounds on her left leg and right side. Whimpering slightly, he caressed her cheek and hoped that she was only sleeping and that any moment her green eyes would open back up. When that did not happen he picked up her hand and interlocked his fingers with her's. "Zira?" he coaxed gently as he looked down at her form, "Zira... Wake. Up," he begged as he cradled her body close to his. Turning to look back at the others who returned his gaze with their sad expressions. Upon seeing Milo, Koba noticed that the scarred chimpanzee could only shake his head slowly from side to side. Closing his eyes, allowing his tears to flow down his cheeks, Koba pressed his face into Zira's.

...

"Rain? _Really? Why?_" Zira questioned.

"Bec_ause... that was how I met you,_" Koba replied with a grin on his face.

"_I remember that day. You looked so angry after you came back from the hunt,_" Zira signed joyfully as she peered down at Koba who was resting his head on her lap. "_Want to tell me why you looked so?_" she asked.

Koba huffed as he turned his head slightly away from her, "was. Angry because. No ape. To be with," he mumbled, causing Zira to give him a questionable look.

"What?" she asked.

"_I was mad because I had no one to be with,_" Koba signed back embarrassingly, turning to look up at Zira's green eyes. She had let out a "oh," sound before smiling warmly back down at him and resumed her grooming.

"_Well you have me now,_" Zira responded while she smoothed out Koba's hair on top of his head.

"_Why... Why did you choose me anyways? Do I not scare you?_" Koba signed hesitantly.

Zira looked thoughtful for a moment while she stared up into the trees before looking back down at him. "_I was scared at first but after seeing you alone for so long and the sad faces you were always making made me curious. So... I decided to get to know you better. When we finally met with each other you were not the big scary ape the others thought you were,_" Zira explained as her features soften while she traced a thumb over Koba's lips. "Y_ou are a kindhearted ape who had been hurt and was just scared. All the other apes could see was what was on the outside of Koba not on the inside,_" she finished seeing Koba's eyes staring back up at her. "_But do not worry, if other apes do not see Koba for what he is. Then I will always be here for you,_" she assured him while pulling his head close to her chest as he held onto her tightly.

"I. Love. You..." Koba whispered.

"And I love you," Zira responded just as quietly.

...

As the memory faded Koba reared back his head and let out a feral cry that shook the forest, causing all the birds to take off into the air and made many of the apes fur stand on end. His cry was genuine and yet haunting at the same time, something that most of the apes had never heard before. Bringing Zira's lifeless body closer to him, Koba cried, letting out all of his despair and sorrow, his body shaking with sadness and fury at what the humans had done to his mate.

...

Milo slowly reached out to comfort his friend but his arm was suddenly stopped by Caesar's. Turning to look at the leader Milo noticed Caesar's sorrowful eyes as he shook his head slowly from side to side, telling him to leave Koba be. Whimpering to himself, Milo drew his hand back and could only watch as Koba cried as he held his mate within his arms.

"We have to go," Caesar spoke quietly to the others.

"I. Stay," Milo replied back as he turned to look at Caesar, Rocket and Luca. Caesar turned to look at Koba's backside and heaved out a breath while nodding once to Milo.

"_Watch over him,_" Caesar ordered to which Milo nodded in return. Before moving on, Caesar took one last glance at Koba and watched the bonobo. He wondered if he'll find himself in the same state as the poor bonobo, quickly pushing that thought away he had to make sure first and decided to move on.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello my reader's here is chapter 8 for you all and I thank you all so much for taking the time to write me a small review as it does tremendous to keep me going. Again please post a review and I'll post another chapter up as soon as I can, thanks again.**

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Caesar and the other apes rushed through the forest, finding many apes that were shot down. Most of them were the injured and elderly but luckily he hasn't sighted one mother or child yet, besides...

"_You think they will still be at the safe spot?_" Rocket signed, huffing while swinging through the trees at great speeds.

"_They had to be, only apes can get there,_" Caesar answered back quickening his pace hoping that his words were true. After about an hour of traveling, Caesar and his apes finally made it to the grotto that was concealed within the forest. Looking around frantically, Caesar's heart pounded within his chest as he saw no apes within sight. Looking on over towards Rocket and Luca, he could see their worried faces as well while the frantically look about. After a moment he had let out a small hoot into the air and waited for a response but nothing came. Fearing for the worst, Caesar was about to turn around when a familiar call had caught his attention. Turning back around quickly, Caesar was greeted with the sight of his mate Cornelia, as she peered out from behind the mossy stones that covered the grove. Letting out a excited pant he quickly rushed on over to his mate, embracing her into his arms. After releasing his hold on Cornelia, Caesar saw his youngest son and bent down to nuzzle his newborn. A hand slowly wrapped around him, causing him to look back up and gaze at Cornelia's green teary eyes. Raising himself back up he slowly brought his forehead onto hers.

"I thought. You will. Never come," Cornelia breathed, letting the tears flow down from her closed eyes.

"I will always. Be right here. For you," Caesar answered back as tears cascaded down his cheeks as well. Looking up he noticed many of the apes that were sent into the forest grove slowly emerged from their hiding spots, happy looks lighting up their features when they saw their mates and other family members return from the battle. Caesar turned around to watch his ape warriors all ran in and embraced one another, letting out whimpering cries as they did so. Caesar even saw both Rocket and Luca embracing their own mates when they found each other. Turning to look back at Cornelia, Caesar stared deeply into her green eyes. "_What happened?_" he asked.

Cornelia glanced back at Caesar and frowned slightly, "_we were attacked,_" she signed. She then went on to explain on how the humans had scattered the apes and tried to pick them off one by one. The ape guards did their job and was able to prevent the humans from injuring of fatally killing off anymore of their ape brethren. However they had lost many on their side, mainly the warriors who gave their lives protecting them and many of the elderly who could not keep up. While explaining to her Caesar about what had happened, Cornelia couldn't keep herself from from letting her tears fall. However Caesar reached around her and pulled her close to a hug, comforting her as she explained to him still. She then informed him how she had gathered many of the survivors and brought them here to which the all were suppose to hide and that was when Caesar and his group had showed up.

"You. Did. Good," Caesar praised as he lifted Cornelia's chin up so that they could look at each other.

"_Blue-Eyes, is he with you?_" Cornelia signed quickly.

Caesar didn't know what to say in response to that question. Instead he took her hand and slowly shook his head from side to side slowly before explaining to her what Milo had told him before. During his explanation, Cornelia let out a new stream of tears and quickly pulled him into a hug, allowing her to cry onto his shoulder.

"_What if the humans get to him first?_" Cornelia questioned.

"_They won't, I will bring him home,_" Caesar promised.

...

"Koba?" Milo called out gently to his now silent ape friend. Its been nearly an hour and Koba had not budged one bit from his spot on the ground. Walking around to get a better view, Milo sighed as he saw Koba still holding onto Zira's deceased body tightly within his arms. Koba's features were that of an animal that lost the will to live and that look scared Milo more that anything. He's seen those empty eyes before and never again did he want to see it on another ape's face, especially Koba. Approaching his old friend, Milo decided to sit a few feet away from the slightly younger ape and patiently waited for him to finish grieving.

After what felt like an eternity, Koba's eyes finally left Zira's face, turning to gaze up at Milo's. Emptiness and flowing tears, was all Milo saw that inhabited Koba's green and milky colored eyes. Looking around he had to do something, something to bring his friend back from this sorrow. "Koba?" Milo called out once more in a gentle voice. The bonobo tilted his head at him as if the name was something he had never heard before. Fearing that the trauma was worse than he had thought, Milo made to move closer but the growl that erupted from Koba stopped him in his tracks. He stared back in shock, it was as if Koba had reverted back into his feral state and lost all of his intellectual consciousness. Whimpering, Milo sat back down all the while keeping his eyes locked onto the bonobo. The experience must have broken Koba and it was up to him to do something to bring his old friend back.

As Koba was turning to look back down at Zira once more, Milo let out a small hoot, catching the attention of his old friend. Koba let out that feral growl again while baring his ivory fangs. Milo frowned at the display but slowly he signed the words "_baby, son_" to the other ape, getting another confused head tilt. Closing his eyes and heaving out a tired breath, Milo signed the words once more, hoping that it will bring Koba back to his senses.

...

Glancing back down at the ape in his arms, Koba couldn't remember who or what this ape was to him. He knew that this ape was important somehow and yet for some reason or another he couldn't remember. He was confused at the tears that would not stop flowing down from his eyes. After a while he had decided to look up from the peaceful expression on the deceased ape's face and noticed that another ape was sitting just a few feet away from him. Who was this chimpanzee that bore scars all over his body, especially around his muzzle. There was something odd about this chimpanzee as well, it was his eyes, one green and the other gold. Those eyes however held something, they held intelligence, concern, sadness and deep within - hope. Why was this chimp sad at him? He didn't get it, while pondering on that thought the ape had suddenly spoke aloud softly, "Koba," it said. Koba? That sounded so familiar and yet he couldn't make out what it was. What is this Koba that the chimpanzee uttered to him, taking notice that the ape had decided to move closer, he let out a threatening growl, not liking that the other was entering into his personal space. Looking back down at the ape in his arms he heard a hoot and slightly turn to look back up at the chimp. Then another interesting thing happened, the ape started to sign to him. Confused he tilted his head at the strange gestures. He knows that these gestures meant something to him and he couldn't figure it out at the moment. However the chimpanzee didn't give up and kept on signing.

"_Baby son,_" the chimp signed. "_Gray eyes, family,_" he signed another and then finally the ape finished with "_Rain._"

Baby son? Gray colored eyes? Family? Rain? Why were these so familiar to him? Huffing quietly to himself the bonobo glanced back down at the ape in his arms. "Zira..." he whispered, Zira, the ape in his arms was named Zira and she was his mate. She was the one who loved him and cared for him, that was why these tears flowed down from his eyes. Looking back up at the chimpanzee he started to remember. The chimpanzee that sat in front of him was named Milo, an old friend that he used to live with a long time ago. Then it dawned on him, Rain, his only son with eyes in the color of storm clouds, that was who was missing. Heaving, he looked around once as everything came rushing back to him. Memories of him seeing his mother beaten to death in front of him and being taken away. Memories of his life as a young ape and finding comfort with the other ape he had lived with, Milo. Memories of his traumatic experiments caused by the humans that left him with scars that decorated his body. Memories of the ape rebellion that allowed him to escape and live among his own kind. Memories of him being alone and then finding another ape who he fell in love with. Memories of his treachery own his own ape brothers and leading them to take out the humans. Memories of his fight against his best friend Caesar and falling to his suppose death. Memories of him returning to his love one and finding out that they had both bore a miracle in the form of a young baby with storm cloud colored eyes.

His name was Koba, a monster, an ape, a warrior, a mate, a friend and most of all now a father. How could he allow himself to momentarily forget what he was and how he was. While the memories came rushing back, Koba quickly glanced down at Zira while new fresh tears started to fall from his eyes. "Zira..." he whimpered as he hugged her. He was the caused of all of this and now his dearly beloved has paid the price for it. After a while, Koba's tears had dried out and he slowly reached under Zira, picking up her lifeless body. Taking one glance at Milo he slowly walked up to the scarred chimpanzee, "come," he said simply while leading the way to the hidden grotto.

It took nearly thirty minutes but the two apes eventually made it. As Koba entered into the clearing with Zira in his arms the other apes parted away from him, allowing him to walk through them and set Zira's body down, on top of a bed of flowers. Not caring if the other apes were eyeing him. Koba gently folded Zira's arms over her heart and smiled sadly while he traced his thumb over her lips. "I. Am. Sorry," he muttered quietly to her while he smoothed out her fur. Placing her body among a bed of flowers was the least he could do for her for all that she had suffered for him. He hoped that by placing her within this safe haven that her spirit will rest peacefully.

"Koba?" Caesar's voice called out to the bonobo, causing the ape to look up at him. What Caesar saw however was a blank stare but however behind those eyes were a deep indignation that was boiling over. Taking a glance at Milo, Caesar saw the other ape's apprehensive movements before he let his eyes wander back to the silent bonobo. Without a word though, Caesar watched as Koba slowly stood up from his spot, turned and quietly walked away from him. The bonobo only stopped momentarily to turn and look back at Zira's body before continuing on. When the other apes made the move to stop the bonobo, Caesar raised his hand, signaling them to halt their advances. For some reason He knew what Koba was going to go do and there was nothing that he nor the others could do to stop him. Turning to look at Cornelia, Caesar quickly brought his forehead to hers, "I'll will be back," he promised, releasing his hold while he turned around to follow.

As Koba made it to the outer circle of the apes there was one particular ape that stood among them, catching his attention. Stopping in front of the gray chimpanzee, Koba glanced up and took a long look at Rocket who merely stared back. It was there that Koba regretted immensely to what he had done, knowing that he was the cause of the anger, despair, pain and most of all, lost. Together they had both lost someone dear to them and it was all because of him, his actions that caused all of this. Closing his eyes and opening them back up to look at Rocket, Koba started to reach his hand out towards the chimpanzee but stop mid way, scoffing at himself as he brought his hand back down. Why in the world would Rocket forgive him of all apes but he had to amend for his wrong doings, even if was too late. "I'm... I'm sorry," Koba apologized quietly while not making eye contact, "I'm. Sorry. For what I. Did," he finished. Looking back up at Rocket, Koba was only met with the chimp's hardened stare. Frowning slightly at himself, Koba huffed before he moved on, he knew that the other ape would never forgive him for what he did. He was the one who took away his son and Koba understood it well but right now he had something else on his mind. He needed to save his son, Rain, from the hands of the humans who murdered his mate and that was what is important to him right now.

...

Groaning softly, Blue-Eyes hissed as he had come to and noticed that he was in a different area. He seems to be located within a wooden room, occupied with some paintings, drawers and a mirror. Upon seeing the mirror, Blue-Eyes watched the blue-eyed chimpanzee stare back at him with bandages wrapped around it's mid section. Looking down, Blue-Eyes noticed the linen wrap and gingerly touch at it. What had happened to him? This was the second time he had woken up, finding himself in slight pain however instead of the woods he was now confide within some room. The sound of movement made his head perk up only to find several apes peeking in from the doorway. Upon seeing the faces of Maurice, Andy and the others, a relieved smile slowly overcame his features.

"_You are alright,_" Andy quickly bustled in with a bowl of fruits, stopping beside the bedside and quickly looking over the blue eyed chimp.

"_What happened?_" Blue-Eyes signed slowly, wincing from the slight pain while doing so.

"_From what the others told me, you were shot by humans but then you were saved by humans as well,_" Maurice signed as he lumbered in.

"_Humans?_" Blue-Eyes signed quizzically at Maurice, looking down at the bowl of fruits and vegetables as Andy set them by his bedside. Then it dawned on him, he remembered bleeding out on the ground within the arms of Andy and the confrontation of both the humans and apes within the secluded forested area. Blue-Eyes had signed to Andy that the humans were good and after that, all was blank to him. Looking back down at his abdomen, Blue-Eyes touch at it and wince slightly at the pain.

"_Eat first, worry later,_" Andy signed as he ushered Blue-Eyes to eat while stopping the young chimp from touching at his bandages.

"Where is mother and father?" Blue-Eyes asked as he looked at the two older apes for answers. Andy paused while Maurice gave him a sad frown.

"_I will tell you later,_" Maurice answered as he noticed the fur on Blue-Eyes rising, a signal of agitation. Holding his palm up, Maurice seemed to have stopped the young chimp from speaking out. "_Eat then I will tell,_" he promised, gaining a defiant huff from Blue-Eyes. However, when he met Blue-Eye's gaze once more the younger chimpanzee obeyed and slowly took a bite out of a pear, turning to look out the window.

Blue-Eyes could see the red coloration of the sky, signaling that it was going to be dark soon. Taking another bite out of his fruit, Blue-Eyes wondered what had happened to his family while he was unconscious and hoped that they were safe from the humans that had attacked him.


	10. Chapter 9

Within the sky the sun sets in the distance, taking it's yellow orange light with it was slowly replaced by the serene glow of the moon. The radiant blueish white light of the full moon smiled down upon the earth from which within a dark forest stirred it's nocturnal creatures whom were just now awakening to from their deep slumber and howled or cried towards the moon herself. However one of these animals were not of the nocturnal but still gazed at the moon for it's beauty with his fierce sky colored eyes. It's been nearly several hours and Blue-Eyes was sitting alone by the bedside within the room that was lit up with a small candle, trying to keep himself calm. Maurice had informed him of what had happened to the apes, that the humans had indeed attacked them and it took him every ounce of energy not to run out of the cabin to join the other apes to defend their home. He knew not what had happened to his parents but the orangutan believes that they are safe. Sniffing to himself Blue-Eyes turned to look at the doorway when there was a soft knocking that came from it.

"You mind if I come in?" Armand asked in a whisper.

Blue-Eyes looked the human over once before turning to gaze back outside at the starry night sky. "You may," he breathed quietly.

Armand gingerly walked on over to the wounded chimpanzee and studied him, fascinated that the ape was doing so well despite being shot down. The blue-eyed ape has several scar marks that was streaked across his right pectoral and cheek giving him a tough outer appearance, however his calm sad looking face says otherwise. To Armand, Blue-Eyes looked so much like a human while many others would've just seen a wild animal instead. Letting out a small sigh, Armand felt sorry for the young ape when he heard the stories the other had told him. "You miss your family, don't you?" Armand asked.

"Yes. I miss them," Blue-Eyes answered back after a while, turning to look at the human who had helped him.

"Knowing you, I believe your family is all right," Armand stated, turning to gaze out at the bright full moon as well.

Blue-Eyes tilted his head slightly at the human, "why help?" he asked curiously.

Armand tilted his head back to look at Blue-Eyes and smiled warmly at the ape. "Because helping is what I do," he answered back. "I love all animals young one and by helping each other, do we end this conflict. If we don't, then who will," he explained.

Blue-Eyes thought about Armand's words and slowly looked down at his hands, observing them as his father's words came back to him. "Apes. Together. Strong," Blue-Eyes breathed.

"Apes together strong? I like that," Armand responded while smiling down at Blue-Eyes whom gazed back up at him.

...

"Round them up boys, we're going to level the playing field!" Breck called out from the edge of the forest while stuffing Rain into a small makeshift cage making the little ape cry out in pain.

"Sir, what about the... What about the others?" a soldier asked as he approached the tall man while letting his eyes slowly slide down to look at the baby ape in the cage who whimpered.

"Them? Don't worry about them. They're all probably dead by now," Breck stated aloud with a chuckle.

At Breck's words the young man glanced back up at him with a shocked look on his face. "But... But they were people... From the city," the man stated making Breck turn to glare down at him.

"What's your name son?" Breck asked slowly.

"I... I'm," the young man stuttered but stopped and took in a slow breath closing his eyes oncw before opening them back up to look into Breck's eyes. "It's Leo, Leo Davidson. I've been with the group for the past two years sir," he answered.

"Little Leo wasn't it? Anyways Leo. Those people from the city were fools to join up with us. Did you not see them? They rushed into the monkey place without a plan and probably got themselves all killed by now. My heart goes to them, truly... However they did do good for a distraction, while our boys prepped the tanks by the city," Breck announced.

Fools? Leo thought as he watched the colonel. He knew that the colonel was losing it but to call those people who died fools was going a bit far and what makes it worst, Colonel Breck had also made them shoot down the mothers and babies of those apes that were in the forest. What Leo saw was something horrible and wrong while Breck yelled out in glee during that time. "So what is the plan now sir?" Leo asked as his fist balled up in anger.

"Now we wait until dawn and then we mow down those sad monkeys until there's nothing left. Well maybe except this little guy," Breck stated as he nudged Rain's small cage.

Nodding, Leo saluted the colonel before making his leave, however before he'd go on, Leo took one look at the baby ape who stared back up at him. Then he noticed something about the little ape, it was producing tears. Something that he hasn't seen an ape do before. Letting out a weary breath, Leo turned back to look at Breck who was barking out orders before leaning down and held onto the cage that confided the small ape. "Don't worry, I'll help you," Leo promised, "I promise I will do what is in my power to stop all of this." With that said the young man stood up slowly and looked around and wondered how he'll accomplish this task at hand. Noticing the other shaken soldiers a few ways away from him he decided to make his way towards them.

...

"Koba?!" Milo called out as he tried his best to keep up with his old friend who was speeding away from him through the trees. "Koba, wait!" Milo called out again noticing the ape stopping ahead so that he could catch up.

"I thought. I told you. Not to. Follow," Koba growled just as Milo landed onto the tree branch next to him.

Milo glance over to Koba and slowly shook his head at his friend. "I understand. You need to. Go save your son. But we need to plan. This first," he warned. "Besides. You are. My friend. That is why. I am going with. You."

Koba scoffed at the older chimpanzee and turned his sight straight ahead but frowned inwardly to himself. "If you. Come with me. You might die," Koba replied back slowly while lowering his eyes towards the dark forest floor below.

Milo looked at Koba and gave the younger ape a sad smile, "then at least. I will die. Helping out. My little brother," Milo spoke quietly as he turned to face the other ape who had a look of shock on his face. Slowly he reached up towards the stunned bonobo and brought both of their foreheads together "because. We are. Brothers. And I. Will always. Protect you."

Koba was to say the least, a bit stun by this act, his body slowly relaxed and he gave Milo a small smile. "Thank. You," he responded but turned his gaze on over towards the edge of the forest. Looking back at Milo, Koba nodded, happy that Milo was willing to stick with him. He however grunted when Milo patted him once on the head.

"Come," Milo spoke quietly and lead the way through the the woods.

Unbeknownst to the two however, they were being followed by a group of apes lead by both Caesar and Rocket.

"You think. It is. Safe. to follow?" Rocket breathed quietly as they moved through the dark woods, only speaking due to the fact that they couldn't see each other sign.

"We have to. We might find. Other apes," Caesar responded just as quietly while resuming.

...

As the two apes swung through the darkness of the night some lights from afar had caught their attention. Looking at each other once, Milo placed a finger to his lips, signaling that they should be quiet before moving on. Looking back the scarred chimpanzee crept closer to the source of the light and saw that it was emanating from within a human home. Holding in a breath Milo glanced back at Koba and saw the cabin's light reflecting the hate off of his friend's eyes. Without even a word, Koba trampled passed him, bolted straight towards the cabin and slammed right through the door. Milo followed quickly and stopped in his tracks at what he saw. Standing within the wooden room were three humans and five apes all whom are curiously staring at both his and Koba's direction. Glancing around, Milo saw a familiar face and was relieved when it turned out to be Maurice.

"Maurice?" he breathed out softly.

"Koba? Milo?" the orangutan replied in surprise, piecing together at what just happened.

Before any of them knew it though, Koba had suddenly lunged forward towards the humans and tackled the tallest one down.

"Malcolm!" Ellie yelled as she reached out for him, only to be held back by Armand.

With a screeching cry, Koba was about to slam his fist right down onto the human's head but someone had quickly taken a hold of his arm, flung him backwards towards the doorway and right outside onto the soft grassy hearth. Getting back up, Koba snarled as he turned to face whoever had stopped him and he was met with fierce green eyes that belonged to the ape scout leader - Andy. "Why. With. Humans!" he growled.

"Because. Humans. Help," Andy responded as he stood between Koba, blocking his path back inside. He turned to look back quickly to see if the human was doing alright from the sudden attack and when the man stood back up, looking a little shaken did Andy reared around to face Koba.

Koba let out a scream as he charged in again, this time aiming for Andy and tackling the chimpanzee onto the ground. Raising his fists, Koba then started to swing them down onto the chimpanzee's head who in turn quickly covered his face as he was assaulted with the heavy blows.

"Koba!" Milo shouted as he raced on over towards the two apes, his cry falling on deaf ears.

After a few good hits, Andy had, had enogh and decided to retaliate to defend himself. Just as Koba was raising his fist to land another strike, Andy took the opportunity to swing his fist upwards and punched Koba right in the jaw, sending him flying backwards onto the ground. Getting up Andy took a moment to wipe at his bloodied lip before making an advance onto Koba. The bonobo however used his left foot, grabbed onto Andy's left leg and tripped the scout leader onto his side. Before Andy could recover from the surprise attack Koba got on top of him and reached down to wrap his hands around the ape's neck and squeezed. Andy tried to pry off the vice like grip that Koba was inducing on him but it was to no avail and he was starting to lose consciousness due to the lack of air. Koba let out a growl as he glared down at the ape under him, squeezing with all his might. Suddenly a pair of hands took a hold of his shoulders and yanked him off of the ape below him, throwing him down onto the ground.

"Koba! Stop!" a familiar voice bellowed.

Getting up quickly, Koba turned around and saw that the one who had threw him down was none other than Milo, his friend, and right behind him appeared Caesar. Letting out a surprised huff of air, Koba glanced around him as apes started to appear out of the darkness. Confused, Koba turned to glare back at Caesar, slowly raising his lips into a snarl.

"_How did you find us?_" Milo asked Caesar as he noticed the other apes appearing out of the dark forest.

"_Followed you, was hoping to find other apes,_" Caesar signed back in kind and was relieved that by following these two did just that. Looking back down, Caesar offered a hand to Andy to which the chimpanzee accepted and pulled himself up.

"_Thank you, Caesar,_" Andy thanked whilst rubbing his sore neck and letting out a few coughs.

Caesar nodded in kind before turning his gaze back up and met the eyes of the four other apes and humans that were staring back. "My friends," Caesar greeted in a calm voice, a smile spreading on his lips.

"Caesar," Malcolm whispered back as he made to approach but stopped when he saw Koba, fearing that the ape would make the move to attack again.

Caesar noticed this and turned to look at Koba who was fuming from where he stood, fur still standing on end and lips pulled up showing his fangs, not a good sign. Worried about his human friends, Caesar slowly walked into Koba's path, lest he made an attempt. "_These are good humans, Koba,_" Caesar reasoned to the other.

"All! Humans! Bad!" Koba snarled back defiantly while Caesar merely stood his ground and kept his stone hard glare at the bonobo.

"No. Not all," Milo cut in as he made his way on over towards Koba and stood in front of him. He then shook his head slowly from side to side, "_you don't actually believe that do you?_" he asked his friend. He then noticed Koba turn his head slightly away from him as if in thought before glaring back at him.

"_Humans are always bad,_" Koba stated once more to which Milo frowned slightly in return.

"Koba..."

"Enough!" Koba shouted as he faced everyone and then turned his fierce gaze up at the humans, "where! Is. My. Son!" he shouted. This sudden notion shocked everyone and the humans seemed to be looking at one another in confusion. Before anything could be said though, Koba had let out a frustrated scream and bolted off into the dark forest.

Everyone was stunned by this action and looked at each other curiously. Milo turned to look at Caesar and nodded to him once to which Caesar knowingly nodded back in return. The scarred chimpanzee eyed everyone once with sadden eyes before he too quickly followed Koba into the dark forest.

...

Caesar had watched the two apes interact with each other and wondered if he should intervene but feared that he would only make matters worse if he did. However Koba had yelled out at the humans and when they didn't answer him, he ran into the forest. Caesar could only watch as Milo turned to nod at him and then follow Koba, leaving him with a question of what to do next. Letting his gaze fall to the ground Caesar wondered if both he and his group should follow the two apes back into the forest. Yet before he could decide on what to do a familiar voice called out to him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Father?"

Letting out a weary breath, Caesar turned around slowly and his eyes widened at the sight of his oldest son. Standing there with an arm wrapped around his mid section among the other apes and humans was Blue-Eyes. Quickly making his way on over towards Blue-Eyes, Caesar stopped in front of the young chimpanzee and quickly inspected him over before taking a hold of his shoulders.

Blue-Eyes curiously met his father's eyes and averted it for a moment while the older ape looked him over, "I'm sorry I ran away," he spoke softly.

"It is. Okay. As long as. You are. Fine. My son," Caesar breathed happily while embracing Blue-Eyes, careful not to hurt him. "I am. Happy. You are. Safe," Caesar breathed quietly while pulling both his and Blue-Eyes' foreheads together while tears fells from his closed eyes.

Blue-Eyes' lips trembled as his father embraced him, here he thought he was going to get another lecture or a scolding but instead the older ape was extremely happy to have seen him. "I'm also happy you are safe," Blue-Eyes whispered back to his father quietly while shedding tears of his own and bringing one arm up to hold onto the older ape's head. "Mother and brother?" Blue-Eyes asked quietly.

"They. Are. Fine," Caesar answered his son and smiled at the thought that even if still injured his son still worried about his family. After their reunion, Caesar released his hold on his son and slowly let his gaze wander towards the humans. "Thank you," Caesar acknowledged, thankful that they had saved his oldest son from dying.

"It's no problem Caesar. I only wish we could have done more," Malcolm replied while he held onto Ellie and Alexander.

"They took his son?" Alexander asked, causing Caesar and Blue-Eyes to look at him, the younger ape curiously looking back and forth in question as well.

Caesar was confused at the question at first but noticed that the young human was referring to Koba and nodded slowly. "Yes. Humans took. Koba's son," Caesar stated simply with a frown. "He will. Not stop. Until. He's found him."

"I understand that feeling well," Malcolm replied as he took a firm hold onto Alexander's shoulder.

"So. Do. I," Caesar responded in kind as he too turned his gaze towards Blue-Eyes before looking back at Malcolm and the others. "I must go," Caesar stated while Blue-Eyes huffed and glance at him.

"Why?" Blue-Eyes questioned.

"Must stop humans..." Caesar responded, hating that that he had to force his apes to do this.

"Caesar" Malcolm voiced, catching the attention of the ape leader. "You don't have to do this, all of you," Malcolm stated as he turned to look at them. "We. We don't have to do this you hear. Not all humans are good or bad and that applies to apes as well but we can stop this. All of this from getting out of hand," he finished.

"How?" Caesar asked with a slight frown to his face.

Malcolm looked down at the others around him, getting a slight nod from Ellie and Armand who encouraged him on. Closing his eyes and relaxing his breathing, Malcolm opened his eyes back up at Caesar and stretched his hand out towards him. "By working together," Malcolm stated in a quiet whisper. He watched how the ape leader tilted his head slightly when Malcolm had stretched his hand out towards him. He noticed how Caesar had slowly to eye every ape before letting his gaze fall back on him. Slowly the ape king approached him and stretched his hand out to grasp his.

"Together," Caesar repeated to which Malcolm smiled in return.

"Now, lets stop all of this from happening," Malcolm finished.


	11. Chapter 10

**BLASPHEMY! after doing some rereading I noticed that I didn't go into as much of Milo's backstory I had originally thought. After doing some more reading and researching on my end I finally did wrote down how I thought Milo's early years was for him. Also if you all don't know Milo is from the the book Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm and if you all haven't read it yet I'd suggest you do cause it's a really good read. Anyways, this chapter is a lot longer than my other ones but I hope you all would enjoy it. Also please please PLEASE leave a review or it doesn't even have to be a review just tell me what you like about it. Anyways enjoy the read and I hope you all like it and I'll post soon.  
**

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"All! Humans! Bad!" Koba's voiced echoed within his head as he panted while making his way through the dark woods. How could Milo like them? How could Caesar even liked them? How could any of the other apes within the troop like the humans who had so violently experimented on them, cut them open and sewed them back up for their sick pleasures. Stopping by a tree and leaning against it, Koba panted loudly to himself as memories, terrible memories started to flood his mind. He could remember clearly as day when he had met Roger and greeted the human with much enthusiasm, thinking of the human like a friend. However it was not to be so, the man had violently treated him like a nuisance and was the one responsible to be the cause of his mother's death by beating her over with a bag of heavy oranges. Koba growled slightly when he the thought of his second caretaker - Tommy, had taken him in and treated him the same if not worse as he was the one responsible who gave Koba his blind eye. Then the two humans fused together into the face of Jacobs, the man whom Koba eventually set all his hate upon as the man mocked him and told him the truth of what he was, an ape and nothing more, a "stupid monkey" the man had so nicely put it. In the midst of his thoughts Koba then remembered Milo signing to him and frowned slightly at what the chimpanzee had asked. Milo had actually asked him that he didn't believe that humans were all bad but they were, every one of them had lied, hurt and tortured him, they were never good. Lifting his head up slightly, Koba turned towards one direction when he heard Milo calling out for him.

"Koba!" Milo called out as he raced through the dark woods, trying to catch up to his old friend. "Koba!" he called out once more, halting as he saw his friend stop suddenly by a tree and leaned onto it for support. Milo slowly approached his friend and saw that Koba was in deep thought before the ape turned to face him. Standing next to Koba, Milo faced him, "sorry. I. Threw. You," he apologized.

"Why?" Koba asked.

"Because. Hurt ape," Milo responded back.

"No. Why. Like. Humans?" Koba asked.

Milo did not expect the question and stared back the bonobo.

"Why. Like. Humans?" Koba repeated, a hint of anger tracing along his voice.

"Because. Not all. Humans bad," Milo whispered simply to which Koba bared his teeth while glancing back at him. The bonobo turned to look away while Milo heaved out a sigh, turning his gaze up towards the dark sky and was reminded of memories from a long time ago.

...

Humans, they were everywhere when Milo woke up along with Koba and nervously looked around himself. He noticed that Koba was signing to the humans telling them or rather asking them if he could go outside. The humans however just talked among themselves and wearily jumped back when Koba kept on signing to them. "_Koba stay,_" Milo warned but before he knew it though, Koba bounded towards the open door within Tommy's home and outside. As the human's let out a some panicked cries, Milo made to follow Koba outside as well but then his route was cut off by one of the humans who had the metal stick that hurts a lot that Tommy used to use on him. Backing off slightly, Milo kept his eyes at the door and then back at the human who held the stick out towards him.

"Alright you stupid animal, just... Just stay where you are," he warned.

Just as Milo was getting ready for that inevitable shock the stick produced some other humans came into Tommy's home and quickly surrounded him.

"Hey there, easy boy" the new human said slowly as he walked up to Milo while the latter let out frightened cries.

Milo relaxed a little at the human's calming voice and stood still as a leash was put around his neck.

"There you go, good boy," the human praised him.

Before he knew it he was being lead away from Tommy's home and towards a big van. Just before entering it though, Milo turned and saw Koba being shot with a tranquilizer as he climbed a tree and fell towards the ground. Letting out a screaming hoot, Milo called out to his fallen companion but then the humans shot him with something that hurt a lot. Looking down he saw what looked like a small metal stick sticking out of his side that and it is painful but he didn't care all he wanted was to be with Koba. However the drugs quickly took effect and he quickly slumped down onto the side of the vehicle, panting to himself as a sudden tiredness overtook his body. Looking up Milo watched as the humans lifted up a semi unconscious Koba in the distance. Reaching out Milo gave out a weak call, noticing that Koba slowly closed his eyes as he was taken away. Suddenly the door to the van closed in front of him, blocking his view of the outside world and with that, sleep finally overtook his body and Milo slumped down onto the ground.

When he awoke Milo found himself inside some giant cage that wasn't like Tommy's cage that forced him to stand up. Groggily getting up from his spot Milo noticed that the floor was hard and cold unlike Tommy's home which was sometimes cold and fuzzy depending on which room both he and Koba entered. Looking around, Milo tried to see if Koba was with him, maybe sleeping in the corner somewhere. But as he gazed about the younger ape was not to be found. Curling up on himself Milo let out small frightful pants, unsure of where he is and where his friend might be. A sound caught his attention and Milo looked up. Across from his cage he could see another ape or as Koba would call them "big caterpillars" looking back at him. He signs to it but the big ape just kept on staring, unnerving him.

It was a little while later when a human came in and started to give them food. Milo quickly ran up to the man and started to sign to him but the man paid him no mind. Letting out a hoot Milo began to do some of the tricks that Tommy had forced both he and Koba to do. This seemed to have done the trick and the human let out a series of chuckles which means that the tricks were working.

"You're the new guy huh? Pretty funny little fellow aren't ya?" the man said quietly.

As how he was taught, Milo reached up to his mouth and peeled back his lips into what the humans called a smile but in true reality this so called smile was a frightened face to apes but to humans it made them laugh. The man stays for a bit and watches him before he moved on to feed the other apes within their cages. Frightened that the human was leaving Milo began to hoot and call for him but when the human did not return he quietly ate the food that was given to him and sat alone in the corner, scared that the human had left him alone. It proceeded like that for a long time the human would come in a few times when there was light and when it was dark Milo would curl up on himself and wait until the square lights above came up again only for the process to be repeated. Milo misses is friend Koba, and to his surprise he even missed his abusive caretaker Tommy who would hit him over the head and body and this no contact was driving him insane.

One day some humans came to his cage and Milo noticed that they were not the human who gave him food. Excited Milo sat up straight and signed to them, "_friend? Milo good. Play?_" he signed happily. However the humans only talked to each other and then pointed something at him. There was a soft whizzing sound and Milo let out a painful scream as a small metal tube stuck itself painfully to his side. He ran around his cage and panted as he slowly looked up at the humans as they entered. Why? Why would the humans hurt him like Tommy? He obeyed, he wasn't doing anything bad and he was nice but why did they hurt him? Something burned within his stomach. This burning sensation was like that time when the little human child had pushed at his head while calling him stupid and it angered him, causing him to bite at the child's nose. The humans grabbed onto him and Milo could not do anything as darkness took over him. When he awoke he was met with the blinding square lights up above and was back in his cage. When he made to move, Milo felt his body ache all over, standing up he stood there for a moment before he bent over and emptied the contents within his stomach onto the hard cold floor. As he recovered from the sudden gag Milo stood there and then dry heaved once more, his stomach having nothing to spew out. Before he knew it he fell down onto the cold hard ground with a loud thud and laid there. Wincing slightly Milo looked down at himself and noticed that there were some new scars added to his body that was still bleeding, what did the humans do to him? Letting out some small crying hoots, he curled up upon himself and let sleep take him once more.

The next morning Milo saw some humans come to his cage and spray his enclosure with water. Too weak to get up he could only cover his face as his body was assaulted by the cold water. After his area was cleaned the humans left him and sprayed down the other apes and their cages as well. Whimpering to himself, Milo wrapped his arms around himself and listened to the frightened hoots of the other apes. Later that day the humans came back again and like the last time they put him to sleep and again he would wake up feeling very sick and having brand new scars. This went on at least once every time the square lights would come back on.

One time when the humans had come inside to check up on him, Milo had grabbed onto the human, to plead with him. In return though, Milo was struck by a metal stick this quickly angered him and without thinking he lashed out, biting the humans hand who had struck him. This did not end well as when he bit the human they shot him with the small metal needle again and when he awoke he had found out that they had put some metal thing around his mouth that was digging into his skin. He had panicked as he reached up and tried to pry the thing away form his face. It was just like that time when Tommy had tied down his mouth and he had to be fed through a straw. When the humans came back into his cage he lowered his head and reached his arm out towards them in submission. As the humans worked on him they eventually removed the iron muzzle which left him with a nasty scar due to it being strapped on too tight.

The iron muzzle wasn't the only thing the humans put on him sometimes he would have other strange objects strapped onto him when he woke up they would hurt a lot when he moved and leave him with new scar marks. This kept on happening day after day and with his spirit broken he no longer even cared when they came to take him away, only staring at them like the other apes within their cells did. He would often sign to the walls and imagined that Koba or Tommy were signing back to him. He would even try to communicate with the other chimpanzees in their cages even though they did not sign back to him. Sometimes he would yell out, pull out some of his hair, bang his head at the bars and strike at his cage until his knuckles were red with blood. Most of the time now Milo would just wait for the inevitable, wondering if the next day it would be better for him.

...

"Hey little guy what's the matter?" a new human asked as he put the food into the slot only to notice that Milo was ignoring him. Frowning to himself Evan thought that the apes were treated much worst than he had originally thought when he had entered the building. He was thrilled when the company had hired him to take care of the lab apes but this was all just a ruse for him to get inside. His main goal was to expose the company's dark secret and actually save these chimps from the experimental tortures that they were going through. How they do this to these chimps Evan thought while looking at every cage and saw the lifeless eyes of each individual. Looking back at the ape in front of him Evan's brows perked up when he saw the chimpanzee making some gestures with his hands. He couldn't believe it, the chimpanzee was signing. Taking a glance at the small name plate written on the cage, "Milo?" he called out and slowly the chimp turned to look at him this time. "_Hi Milo, my name is Evan,_" he signed.

Milo had let out a gasp when the new human signed to him. The gesture surprised him so much that he didn't know what to do. Getting up slowly and painfully he made his way towards the man and stopped by the bars. "_Sign?_" Milo asked hopefully as he looked up at the human to which he got a "_yes,_" in return. Letting out small pants in happiness Milo began to sign at the human, "_Milo good,_" he signs, "_Milo good. No hurt,_" he begged.

"_I won't hurt you, I promise,_" Evan signed as he squatted down and allowed Milo to tentatively touch his hand. "Poor guy what did they do to you?" Evan asked as the chimpanzee happily touched his hand.

"_Milo hurts but Milo happy, Milo good,_" Milo signed, joyful that he was able to find another human who wasn't Tommy, that understood him.

"I know little buddy, I know," Evan responded in a soothing voice as he looked the chimpanzee over. "Soon you won't have to be here any longer. That I promise," Evan whispered.

...

After a few more days Milo noticed that something strange was going on after he had met the human named Evan. The people who came to take him away stopped coming and eventually he saw the humans running about and screaming at each other which scared him a lot. Milo saw Evan every day and was happy that the human stayed and interacted with him, unperturbed by the events that was going on around. While Milo was busy signing with Evan he looked up as a man dressed in strange clothing, followed by two other humans stopped by his cage.

"You bastard, you ruined us. Don't you know how much money I've put into this? It was to save human lives!" the man in the business suit yelled.

"At the costs of these chimp's lives and freedom? I'd think not," Evan responded calmly as he signed playfully with Milo.

"They're just animals!" the man shouted and one of the guards slowly shook his head at the him.

"Just animals huh?" Evan repeated as he turned to look at the man in the suit. "Look at him," Evan gestured to Milo to which the man angrily glared at and then back at him, "what you see is an animal. I however see a distant cousin with a mind a soul, who is able to feel pain and happiness just like you and I. Don't you even dare start with that "_they're just animals_" bullshit. If them being different makes them animals then what does that makes us? Humans? Humans is just a definition of what we are, were no more animals than what chimps, bonobos, gorillas gibbons and orangutans or any other species are. So screw off Norman, I'm done with you and your company. I hope you and the rest of the other companies out there rot for what you all did to these individuals," Evan finished as he turned back around and signed with Milo who seemed agitated from his screaming. "_Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Play,_" Evan signed to the chimp to which Milo pressed his body onto the bars and allowed Evan to tickle him.

"You have no idea what you've brought upon yourself," Norman warned as he turned and walked away.

"Actually... Yes I do," Evan responded as a single tear left his eye while he was still tickling Milo and listened to the chimpanzee's pants of laughter.

Milo noticed Evan's tear and sat up abruptly. The tear from a human usually meant that they were sad and this concerned him, Milo gestured the word from cry and looked up expectantly at Evan.

"_Evan happy,_" Evan signed back with a chuckle, while wiping at his face with his shoulder.

The next few days was a busy blur for Milo. Other humans came in shot the other apes with the tranquilizers. At first Milo was scared and hooted frantically within his cell along with the other apes but Evan signed to him, telling him that he was going to a new place. When Evan had entered into his cage, Milo quickly ran up to him and cling onto the human, fearful that the other humans might hurt him. Evan however rubbed his back and made some soothing sounds. Feeling a slight prick on his shoulder, Milo reached up and rubbed at it as Evan resumed rubbing his back and soothed him with calming words. Slowly Milo felt the effects of the sleeping drug and he looked up at Evan's face for reassurance to which the man smiled down at him.

"You'll be safe now," Evan said softly as Milo fell asleep within his arms "I'm going to miss you my friend, be safe," he finished as he looked up at the others and nodded his head.

...

When Milo awoke he noticed that he was not in a cage but in a room with bars at one side of the wall. There were natural sunlight that came from the barred windows unlike the square lights that turned off and on the humans had used. Sitting up Milo observed his surrounding and noticed that there was some toys within the room as well as a giant red ball that hung from the ceiling. Instead of hard cold ground his feet was met with the softness of the earth. Looking across at the bars Milo noticed that some of his neighbors, the chimps from the laboratory as well, were too beginning to wake from their induced slumber. After a little while of playing with his toys a sound made Milo perk up and he saw a some humans walk into the area behind the bars and waved at him. Afraid that they might hurt him, Milo backed away quickly and held a blanket towards him as if it would protect him from harm.

"Hello Milo, I'm Jennifer," a woman said quietly while stepping forward, surprised by Milo's behavior when he saw them.

Where was Evan? Why was he not here to protect him? Milo gave out some small whimpering hoots and the woman frowned at him sadly. Oh no, he made her sad now she was going to hurt him like the rest. Readying himself for the pain Milo watched to see if the woman would do something. Instead the woman sighed and knelt down by his cage.

"Poor thing is traumatized," one of the caretakers whispered as she touched the bars.

"Of course he's traumatized, all of them are," Jennifer responded in kind "and it's our duty to help them," she finished. "Milo," she called out once more and was surprised when the chimpanzee reached up to his face and pulled back his lips into a smile to which Jennifer frowned at.

"Ugh, sick. Can't believe they taught him that," another caretaker named Patrick spat before he moved on to assess the other chimpanzees.

"_Milo good. No hurt Milo. Milo promise, good._" Milo signed desperately noticing the angry noises and frowns the humans were making when he made the smiling gesture.

"_Milo very good. We won't hurt you, we help,_" Jennifer signed back.

When Jennifer had signed at him he was happy to have found another human who could understand him. Wearily he approached the human named Jennifer and looked at the others who were busying themselves with the other apes. Tentatively he reached out and touched the woman's hand while keeping his eyes on her.

"Your home now," Jennifer whispered as she smiled warmly down at the chimpanzee.

...

At this new place, this new home nothing hurt him here and Milo was allowed to participate as well as get along with the other chimpanzees. At first he was weary of them and they too of him but slowly and eventually they came to befriend one another. During his stay Milo wondered what had happened to Evan and wondered why the human was not here with him. He also wondered where Koba was and hoped that his friend was doing fine out there.

As the days flowed on by Milo was happy every time any of the caretakers would come and greet him and his fellow chimpanzee friends. They would always bring them new things such as toys and food so that Milo and the other apes would enjoy with. Every night though they had to go back to their enclosure but Milo didn't mind because he knew that when there is light up above they'll all just go back outside and play with each other once more. Jennifer would visit almost everyday and sign with him, teaching him new words and does some things to him, not hurtful thing but they were strange either way. Such as she would wear a metal thing around her ears and using the end of it she would put it on his chest. She signs that she is listening to his heart to see if he was sick, Milo doesn't care though because Jennifer is not hurting Milo. Jennifer would would always laugh at Milo and gave him the name "silly thing," to which the chimpanzee hooted in happiness.

...

One day though a visitor had came to watch the apes and interact with them, checking their hearts and was documenting on what they were doing. One particular part during the visit when the apes were trying to play with the human he had accidentally sneezed at them, causing them to scream in panic and jump back away from him. Milo was one of the unfortunate apes who was sneezed upon and noticed that there were small read beads of liquid on his fur, especially around his mouth area. Unconsciously he wiped at his mouth licked at his lips, wondering if the blood was from him but he did not hurt. Looking back up at the human, Milo noticed that he was covering his face with a small white thing that slowly turned red. Milo then turned to his fellow chimpanzees and started to groom them while they too groom him in return. Picking up flecks of the blood and licking at their fingers before resuming.

Later that night when Milo was going to sleep, images started to come back to him strange images of when he was small. Slowly his eyes opened and Milo looked about his den and for some reason saw it differently. Sitting within his cage, Milo looked at his hands and wondered what was making his fingers move. Hold on, why did he think that? He never thought of this before. When one of their caretakers came in to release their gates so that they could go back outside, Milo stumbled out and gazed at the others. They too seemed slightly puzzled as they cautiously entered into the open area. One particular chimpanzee named Pankun bounded up to him and studied him. Reaching up slowly Pankun touched Milo's scarred snout and narrowed his eyes a bit. Pankun was one of the newer chimps that had arrived after Milo had gotten there at the Chimp Sanctuary and they both had quickly became friends and Milo was the one as well as many of the caretakers taught the younger chimpanzee how to sign.

"_Hurt?_" Pankun signed as he traced a finger over Milo's scars.

"_No... Not anymore,_" Milo signed back curiously. Looking back up Milo saw Jennifer entering the complex and made his way on over towards her. When he had reached her Milo saw the woman smile at him.

"Morning silly, you sleep good?" Jennifer said aloud with a chuckle and getting a head nod from the big chimpanzee. You ready for today? Jennifer asked to which Milo signed "_yes,_" to her. Still smiling something seemed different about the chimpanzee, usually Milo would just bound up and down but this was a first that he had actually signed back to her when she asked him a question. Thinking nothing of it, Jennifer went to one of her colleagues and got everything prepped for today's activities.

A couple of days later Milo and the other apes were meandering around when they heard a loud crash within the hallways where the caretakers were always at. Running on over to inspect what was going on, Milo saw that one of the caretakers had fallen over and both he and some of the other chimps hooted loudly to get the attention of the other human caretakers. Within moments someone came into the hallway and helped the unconscious caretaker back up onto his feet and with that they left. The next day only a few caretakers showed up and it confused Milo and the chimps. The next day Milo saw Jennifer crying alone in one of the halls and he walked up to her. The woman stopped her sobbing and turned to face him.

"Hi there Milo, sorry did I bother you?" she asked to which Milo slowly shook his head slowly from side to side.

"_Jennifer sad, why sad?_" he signed to her after they had made eye contact again.

Jennifer let out a small gasp, Milo had actually asked a question. It was known that general great apes besides the humans did not have the cognitive ability to ask questions, so when Milo had asked her she was to say the least, shocked. Wiping away at her tears Jennifer signed back to the chimp, "_family is gone._"

Milo tilted his head, confused. Maybe the other coworkers left and that was why Jennifer was sad. Before he could ask another question Jennifer smiled warmly, reached on over and patted his hand once before getting up and leaving him be.

The next day was one of the worst days Milo could have ever imagined. There was a loud explosion which had awoken all of the chimpanzees. Getting up quickly and going over to the bars of his room Milo glanced around quickly as some of the caretakers quickly rushed in and placed giant caged in front of his sliding door. It opened and he curiously looked at the caretaker who screamed for him to get in. Nervously, Milo climbed in and let the cage close behind him. Before he knew it though there was a loud bang and there was a lot of screaming. He was suddenly wheeled away within his small cage and before he knew it he was pushed into a giant truck. Confused and scared Milo hooted frantically along with many of the other chimpanzees that were in there with him. That's when he saw it, as the caretaker was busily securing the straps around his cage another human shot the caretaker in the back and he fell down on the ground in front of Milo causing him to scream. Looking up Milo saw many humans that were not his caretakers running towards them. However the doors to the large semi truck closed and before he knew it there was a revving sound and everything jolted. Looking up, Milo saw one of the caretakers who was sitting in the back with them crying as she knelt down next to the male caretaker who was shot. Reaching out with his hand he gave the human a nudge but he was still, just like Tommy. Milo stayed within his cage as he watched the human caregiver walked to each and every one of them, giving them a handful of some fruits before looking them over. During the drive Milo could make out at least ten of his fellow chimpanzees as for the others he didn't hear them. Luckily Pankun was caged right next to him and both he and Pankun groomed each other through the bars to help ease them from the sudden tension that was building.

Milo didn't know how long but when the doors to the large truck opened he squinted at the mid day sunlight and let his eyes adjust to it. Some of the caregivers walked into the truck and started to unload their cages and pushed them out through the door. Milo however noticed that the caregivers were wearing grim expression on their faces and had dark red colors on some of their clothing. He happily hooted however when he saw Jennifer enter into the truck and she embraced the other female caregiver and she in turn waved at him.

...

"How many were we able to save? Maria asked while trying to hold in a sniff.

"Almost all of them, we couldn't save seven of them because... Because they were already dead," Jennifer sobbed while kneeling down and touched the fallen man by Milo's cage. "Poor Patrick," Jennifer breathed.

"They shot him and the chimps that we couldn't save. Those wretched people shot them," Maria whimpered as new fresh tears streamed down her face and Jennifer quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I know sweetie, I know," Jennifer cooed trying to calm down the young caregiver while she herself was trying not to break down as well. The disease had broken out so suddenly that it affected all over the world in the matter of moments. One day it was all fine and before they all knew it, people were dropping like flies much like her family that was exposed to it. Jennifer and her coworkers had kept up to date of what was going on and when they heard that the flu was developed and used on chimpanzees that was the Que for Jennifer and her team to spring into action. They quickly rounded up all the cages they could find, found a some large semi trucks and boarded most of the chimps onto them. However they were not quick enough and the mob of humans attacked them, shooting a few of the apes and even the worker themselves, blaming all of them for being the cause of the virus.

...

Milo and the other chimps wearily strolled about within the woods that Jennifer and her team had taken them to. It was wide open, there were noises and smells that he's never heard not smelt before and all in all it was perfectly calming. Many of the other chimps played together and stuck close but Milo wondered where the other chimps from the sanctuary were. Making his way on over to where Jennifer was he tappet the woman lightly on the leg and she nervously looked down at him. "Where others?" he signed confusingly.

Jennifer heaved out a shuddering breath and blinked away at her tears before she squatted down to him. "They're all gone," she breathed while wiping away at her tears. However when she stayed near the chimpanzee she noticed something different about him, Milo's left eye was slightly green. It was hardly noticeable but it was there and she was sure that the chimpanzee had full golden brown eyes because she herself did some examinations on him when they had brought him in.

"Gone... Where?" Milo spoke causing all of the humans to go wide eyed.

It wasn't until later that Milo understood what had happened to them and the other apes. There was a supposed virus that was airborne that killed the humans but yet it made them, the apes, more smarter. During the first year it was hard for Milo and his troop of chimps but with the aid of the humans they had survived the odds. During this time more apes were brought into the woods that the caretakers had found and they were not just chimps. The apes that were brought here into the woods were the orangutans, gorillas and bonobos, all oh whom was exposed to the virus and together they all learned and was taught by the humans.

...

Milo sat by a rock and looked down at the valley that spread across the land, containing the forest that they all lived in. There was a sudden thump and Pankun sat right next to Milo while taking a glance back to look at his daughter.

"_She's beautiful,_" Milo signed to his friend as he too looked and watched the young white chimpanzee, a rarity among all species of animals, play with several other apes.

"_Just like her mother,_" Pankun signed back while smiling at his child - Xuě before he lowered his head a frown evident on his face.

"_I'm sorry,_" Milo signed knowing well that the birth of Pankun's daughter did not end well for his mate - Huā. Soon after Huā had given birth she became really sick and the humans did all they could for her but they did not have the necessary equipment and she finally passed on after a few hours. Before that though both she and Pankun named their daughter and Huā left this world with a smile on her face.

"Some _apes still don't trust humans,_" Pankun warned, "_they don't know humans like we do,_" Pankun finished.

"Because not all humans are good," Milo signed but then thought about it, "but not all humans are bad as well," Milo finished as he saw Jennifer walking up to him with a bag slung over he shoulders.

"_Do you have to go?_" Pankun asked, fearing for the older chimpanzee.

Milo rubbed the younger chimpanzee on the head, "_you are alpha now, take good care of the apes. I know you can do it,_" Milo signed playfully but let a frown form on his face. "I. Will. Miss you. Pankun," Milo whispered while bringing both his and Pankun's foreheads together.

"And. I. Will miss. You. Milo. My big brother," Pankun replied back.

When the two chimpanzee's released each other Milo gave Pankun one last nod, leaving everything to the chimpanzee and quickly made his way on over towards Jennifer.

...

"You ready?" Jennifer asked to which Milo gave on loud hoot and climbed into the small vehicle.

"I'll miss you Jen, be safe alright?" Maria said softly as she hugged her best friend.

"And you too Maria, stay safe. Protect them, all of them" Jennifer said softly while gesturing to both apes and humans who sought refuge within the place. Letting go of the younger woman Jennifer entered her car and started up the engine. "This is goodbye then," Jennifer said to Maria.

"I guess it is... Goodbye Jennifer," Maria said softly and both of the woman let tears flow from their eyes as Jennifer put the vehicle in drive and made her way.

Pulling the file out Jennifer looked down at it and frowned slightly. There it was, the picture of Koba, a scarred up looking bonobo who was used for medical experiments all over the country before he was last settled in San Francisco where the supposed virus started. Adjusting her mirror Jennifer smiled at Milo who smiled back at her. "Well, it's just you and me now Milo, let's go see if your friend is still there and with that they came upon the concrete road and made their way westward.

...

Koba heaved out while still leaning onto the tree for support while mulling about the ideas that humans were good. No matter how he sees it he kept on seeing the faces of the ones who had hurt him, tortured him, brought him pain. The again there were those times when those human hands had not hurt him, they had soothed him, played with him and praised him. Mary, Kuo, Amol, they were the only humans who showed him any kind of kindness and treated him with love. How could he have forgotten that, he was hurt so much that he built walls to protect himself from ever feeling those kinds of pains again. What Milo said was true, not all humans were bad even though the majority of them were.

"You okay?" Milo asked quietly.

Koba did not answer but nodded instead and the older chimpanzee seemed have seen the gesture and quietly sat down next to him. Blinking Koba thought to himself and wondered if he should really give the humans a chance. The kind instinct within him was telling him to give them one last chance but it was very difficult to do so after what the humans had done to him, to his apes and to his mate and child. Grunting Koba moved onward he did not need to be thinking about these things as of right now. All that was important for him right now was to save his son from the vile humans who had attacked him.

Milo frowned when Koba pushed himself off of the tree and walked onward, leaving him behind. Getting up to follow Milo glanced back up at the night sky and wondered if the others were alright. He had an odd feeling that this will be the last starry night that he'll get to see again but he was fine with that. As Koba pick up pace once more Milo quickly followed, it was now or never and Milo feared for the worst.


End file.
